Aquilino v. Laird

316 F. Supp. 1053, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10688
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 4, 1970
DocketCiv. A. No. SA70CA149
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 316 F. Supp. 1053 (Aquilino v. Laird) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aquilino v. Laird, 316 F. Supp. 1053, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10688 (W.D. Tex. 1970).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SPEARS, District Judge.

In his petition for a writ of habeas corpus the petitioner alleges that he is in the custody of respondents contrary to law; that disapproval by the Army of his application for discharge as a conscientious objector on March 27, 1970 has no basis in fact, is arbitrary and capricious, is based upon a misinterpretation and misapplication of the law, regulations and evidence, is a denial of due process, and is in violation of Army Regulation 635-20 and Section 6(j) of the Military Selective Service Act as amended.

Petitioner’s application for discharge pursuant to AR 635-20, was made on or about January 19, 1970. In support of the disapproval, the Review Board gave the following reasons: (1) Petitioner’s beliefs became fixed prior to his entry into the active military service, and (2) Petitioner is opposed to a particular war rather than conscientiously objecting to war in general.

As to the first reason submitted by the Review Board, AR 635-20(3) (a) (b) states in part as follows: (a) “Consideration will be given to requests for separation based on bona fide conscientious objection to participation in war, in any form, when such objection develops subsequent to entry into the active military service.” (b) “Federal courts have held that a claim to exemption from military service under Selective Service laws must be interposed prior to notice of induction, and failure to make timely claim for exemption constitutes waiver of the right to claim. However, claims based on conscientious objection growing out of experiences prior to entering military service, but which did not become fixed until entry into the service, will be considered. * * * ”

Petitioner contends that he has not waived his right to request a reclassification for I-O, inasmuch as his claim is not covered by AR 635-20(3) (b) (1) (2) which states: “Requests for discharge after entering military service will not be accepted when — (1) Based solely on conscientious objection which existed, but which was not claimed prior to induction, enlistment, or entry on active duty or active duty for training; (2) Based solely on conscientious objection claimed and denied by the Selective Service System prior to induction.”

On May 20, 1970, this Court held that while there was no basis in fact for the finding by the Review Board that petitioner is opposed to a particular war [1055]*1055rather than to war in general, there was a basis in fact for the finding that petitioner’s beliefs became fixed prior to his entry into the active military service, and concluded, therefore, that petitioner was not entitled to the writ. A motion for new trial was denied on June 3, 1970.

While petitioner’s appeal to the Court of Appeals was pending, the Supreme Court decided Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. 333, 90 S.Ct. 1792, 26 L.Ed.2d 308 (June 15, 1970), and on June 24, 1970, this ease was remanded by the Court of Appeals (429 F.2d 573 (5th Cir. 1970)) in the following language:

The record discloses that the question whether appellant’s views had a religious basis was necessarily intertwined in the larger question of a change in views subsequent to induction. The decision of the Supreme Court in Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. 333, 90 S.Ct. 1792, 26 L.Ed.2d 308 (Decided June 15, 1970), supervened the decision of the district court. We conclude that the matter should be reconsidered by the district court in light of Welsh v. United States. The judgment will be vacated and the case remanded to the district court for that purpose.

Having again fully considered the question whether petitioner’s beliefs had a religious basis, which the Court of Appeals has said was intertwined in the “larger question” whether there was a basis in fact for the Review Board’s decision that his beliefs became fixed prior to his entry into the active military service, the conclusion is now- reached that in light of the remand to this Court and the additional guidelines set forth in Welsh, there was no basis in fact for the action of the Review Board in denying petitioner’s application for discharge from the Army, and the petitioner is entitled to the writ he seeks.

In his application for a I-A-0 classification, petitioner made the following statement:

“God’s call is a call to life. Life is that which gives meaning to all else. To work in any way other than for the perpetuation of life is to work contrary to the call of God. * * * To kill is to act against all that is valuable and moral. Because the call is a personal one and stresses the importance of the individual’s decisiveness and action, the individual when confronted by the choice between the declarations of the administrative aspect of his society and his own perception of correct action must not violate his own conscience. To do otherwise would be against the command of God — that man accept his own personal and social responsibility as expressed in decision and action. It would be a yielding of his own responsibility and a consequent denial of humanity. The social structure most conducive to the achievement of fuller human existence is one which will not ask nor force its participants to engage in actions not compatible with their personal understanding of correct action.”

When he applied for a discharge from active military service, petitioner stated that he did not realize his service as a non-combatant was a violation of his views until after he had experienced military service. In this connection, he said:

Prior to induction into the service, I felt that by serving as a medic I could comply with the dictates of my conscience and with those of my country. Since that time, as a result of my experiences in the Army and better understanding of the Army, I have become convinced that this is a false belief. I am convinced that a true conscientious objector cannot in good conscience serve in the Armed Forces. My present awareness of the professed function of all who are participant within the Army — medic or clerk— * * * is to work for the achievement of the mission of the Army, and as I believe this mission is to wage war, which I believe to be immoral and detrimental to the sanctity of life, then I cannot in conscience remain affiliated with the machinery of war.

[1056]*1056In essence, there was agreement among the interviewing officers, as well as the members of the Review Board, that petitioner’s “professed beliefs” had not changed subsequent to his induction, but it is reasonable to assume from the record that their apparent reluctance to give credence to petitioner’s “self-serving declaration” that any service in the military violated his views, was influenced to a significant degree by the Chaplain’s opinion that while petitioner was “sincere in. his beliefs” the nature of those beliefs was “personal and philosophical rather than religious”. As a consequence, petitioner was unable to convince the Review Board than his beliefs were now any different that those which prompted his request for I-A-0 classification. However, as we have learned from a reading of Welsh,

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Bluebook (online)
316 F. Supp. 1053, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aquilino-v-laird-txwd-1970.