Application of W. Edward Morgan on Behalf of Luis Moreno Lizarraga, Serviceman v. G. v. Underwood, Maj. General, Commanding Officer, Fort Bliss, Texas

406 F.2d 1253, 1969 U.S. App. LEXIS 9016
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 7, 1969
Docket26728_1
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 406 F.2d 1253 (Application of W. Edward Morgan on Behalf of Luis Moreno Lizarraga, Serviceman v. G. v. Underwood, Maj. General, Commanding Officer, Fort Bliss, Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Application of W. Edward Morgan on Behalf of Luis Moreno Lizarraga, Serviceman v. G. v. Underwood, Maj. General, Commanding Officer, Fort Bliss, Texas, 406 F.2d 1253, 1969 U.S. App. LEXIS 9016 (5th Cir. 1969).

Opinion

GOLDBERG, Circuit Judge:

By the route of habeas corpus, Luis Moreno Lizarraga seeks his release from the United States Army. Unsuccessful in the court below, Lizarraga has appealed to this Court. We have carefully studied the briefs and record, and have determined that this appeal is appropriate for summary disposition without oral argument. Pursuant to new Rule 18 of the Rules of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Clerk of this Court has been directed to put this case on the summary calendar and notify the parties in writing. 1

On the basis of the briefs and record, we proceed to the merits of the case. The appellant contends that his petition for a writ of habeas corpus should have been granted because his retention by the United States Army is illegal. He asserts that his induction was illegal because his draft board should have classified him as a conscientious objector or, alternatively, should have given him a fatherhood deferment. He also argues that the Selective Service Act, 50 U.S.C.A. App. § 451 et seq., is unconstitutional.

We begin by noting that a person can challenge the correctness of his classification after his induction into the Armed Forces by a habeas corpus *1255 petition. See Oestereich v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 11, 1968, 393 U.S. 233, 89 S.Ct. 414, 21 L.Ed.2d 402 [No. 46 December 16, 1968] ; Powers v. Powers, 5 Cir. 1968, 400 F.2d 438. In making this challenge, however, a petitioner has the difficult burden of showing that his local board had “no basis in fact” for classifying him “I-A: Available for Military Service.” Matyastik v. United States, 5 Cir. 1968, 392 F.2d 657; Jones v. United States, 5 Cir. 1968, 387 F.2d 909, 911. Here we find on the face of the appellant’s petition and supporting brief sufficient evidence to conclusively establish that his local board had a “basis in fact” for refusing to classify him as a conscientious objector. 2

We also find that the appellant’s claim that he should have been given a fatherhood deferment is without merit. The appellant waived his right to such classification when he failed to give timely notice to his local board of his wife’s pregnancy. In United States ex rel. Tomback v. Bullock, E.D.Ill.1953, 110 F.Supp. 698, 703, we read:

“Insofar as this petition is concerned, petitioner’s objections to the actions of the Local Board date from August 29, 1952, when he was first ordered to report for induction. A few days after that order was issued, petitioner informed his Local Board that his wife was pregnant, and, shortly thereafter, he submitted a physician’s certificate attesting to the pregnancy. Selective Service System Regulation 1622.30 provides:
‘(a) In Class III-A shall be placed any registrant who has a child or children with whom he maintains a bona fide family relationship in their home.
^ # if S
‘(c)(1) The term “child” as used in this section shall include a legitimate or an illegitimate child from the date of its Conception. * * *
‘X2) No registrant shall be placed in III-A because he has a child which is not yet born, unless prior to the time the local hoard mails him an order to report for induction, there is filed with the local board the certificate of a licensed physician stating that the child has been conceived, the probable date of its delivery, and the evidence upon which his positive diagnosis of pregnancy is based.’ [Italics added]
Since petitioner did not file with the Local Board a physician’s certificate prior to the time he was ordered to report for induction, the Local Board properly refused to change petitioner’s classification.”

At the time of his induction, the appellant’s wife was seven months pregnant, but until that date he had never notified his local board of her condition. Thus there is no factual basis on which it may be concluded that there was a “change in the registrant’s status resulting from circumstances beyond his control” within the meaning of 32 C.F.R. § 1625.2(b), such as to require his local board to reopen his case after he had received the order to report for induction. See United States v. Helm, 4 Cir. 1967, 386 F.2d 434, cert. den., 1968, 390 U.S. 958, 88 S.Ct. 1049, 19 L.Ed.2d 1153.

The appellant’s ultimate argument is that the Selective Service Act and the procedures promulgated thereunder are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has already passed on and rejected this contention. In United States v. Nugent, 1952, 346 U.S. 1, 73 S.Ct. 991, 97 L.Ed. 1417, we read-:

“The Selective Service Act is a comprehensive statute designed to provide an orderly, efficient and fair procedure to marshal the available manpower of the country, to impose a common obligation of military service on *1256 all physically fit young men. It is a valid exercise of the war power. It is calculated to function — it functions today — in times of peril. Even so, Congress took care to provide special treatment for those who could not reconcile participation in the defense effort with their religious beliefs— if those beliefs were a matter of sincere conviction. Profiting from the experiences of the First World War, Congress adopted a new and special procedure to secure the rights of conscience, which had been given express statutory recognition.
“It is always difficult to devise procedures which will be adequate to do justice in cases where the sincerity of another’s religious convictions is the ultimate factual issue. It is especially difficult when these procedures must be geared to meet the imperative needs of mobilization and national vigilance —when there is no time for ‘litigious interruptions’. Falbo v. United States, 1949, 320 U.S. 549, 64 S.Ct. 346, 88 L.Ed. 305. Under the circumstances presented, we cannot hold that the statute, as we construe it, violates the Constitution.” 346 U.S. at 9-10, 73 S.Ct. at 996, 97 L.Ed. at 1424-1425.

See also Simmons v. United States, 5 Cir. 1969, 406 F.2d 456 [January 9, 1969].

After a careful examination of the briefs and record, we have considered all of the appellant’s specifications of error and have found all of them to be without merit. The judgment of the district court is therefore

Affirmed.

APPENDIX

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406 F.2d 1253, 1969 U.S. App. LEXIS 9016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/application-of-w-edward-morgan-on-behalf-of-luis-moreno-lizarraga-ca5-1969.