United States v. Clark Allen Roberts

443 F.2d 1009, 1971 U.S. App. LEXIS 9650
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit·Decided June 11, 1971·No. 20680·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinions

[1010] ROSS, Circuit Judge.

This is a direct criminal appeal from a conviction of Clark Allen Roberts for refusal to submit to induction under 50 U.S.C. App. § 462. We affirm.

Roberts registered with the Selective Service System in March, 1964. From April, 1964 to August, 1969, he was classified twice as I-S, four times as II-S and four times as I-A. In addition, in December, 1968, he applied to and was rejected by the Officers’ Candidate School of the United States Army. On August 5, 1969, he was again classified I-A and was ordered on September 12, 1969, to report for induction on October 8, 1969. A previous induction order of February 18, 1969, had been cancelled by his classification to I-S.

On November 19, 1969, after Roberts requested and received a transfer for induction which necessitated a new reporting date, he refused to submit to induction. At no time prior to the date scheduled for induction had Roberts filed, or even requested, Selective Service Form 150 requesting classification as a conscientious objector.

He was indicted on April 22,1970.

After the indictment, the United States Attorney, at the request of Roberts’ court appointed counsel, returned his Selective Service file to the local board to allow the registrant the opportunity to present his conscientious objector claim. His Form 150 was filed on June 23, 1970, and after a courtesy interview with two board members on July 14, 1970, the board on July 16, 1970, declined to reopen the file. A classification memorandum of July 16, 1970, indicates that the board refused to reopen Roberts’ classification because his “objection is to Viet Nam War and not wars in general.”

Roberts claims on appeal that the district court erred in overruling his motion for a judgment of acquittal, and in its ruling and instruction that there was and is a basis in fact for the action of the board in refusing to reopen his classification. He claims that our decision on this point must rest upon a determination of two questions: (1) Did Roberts’ written and oral statements to the draft board constitute a prima facie case for a new classification as a conscientious objector? and (2) If they did set forth new facts sufficient to constitute such a prima facie case for reopening, did Roberts waive his right to reclassification by failing to request the same prior to receiving his order to report for induction ?

However, the Court believes that the questions which need to be answered in this case are: (1) Did Roberts waive his right to reclassification, even if he was entitled to it, by failing to request the same prior to refusing to submit to induction? and (2) If Roberts did have a right to reclassification after the United States Attorney returned his file to the local board, would that reclassification have any legal effect on his earlier indictment?

First, an individual has no right to be reclassified after his refusal to report for induction. In United States v. Daniell, 435 F.2d 834, 835 (1st Cir. 1970) (Per Curiam), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 982, 91 S.Ct. 1201, 28 L.Ed.2d 334 (1971), the Court said that “a conscientious objector form filed after the induction date has been uniformly held to create no right in the registrant to demand a reopening of his classification.” Also, in United States v. Schrader, 435 F.2d 854, 855 (9th Cir. 1970) (Per Curiam), the Court said:

“The authority in this circuit is legion that a registrant is not entitled to a reopening to consider a claim for conscientious objection which is made after a failure to report for induction. United States v. Hart, 433 F.2d 950 (9th Cir. 1970); United States v. Lloyd, 431 F.2d 160 (9th Cir. 1970); United States v. Blakely, 424 F.2d 1043 (9th Cir. 1970); United States [1011] v. Robley, 423 F.2d 613 (9th Cir. 1970), petition for cert. filed, 38 U.S. L.W. 3525 (U.S. June 15, 1970) (No. 1693); Straight v. United States, 413 F.2d 263 (9th Cir. 1969); Brown v. United States, 409 F.2d 1354 (9th Cir. 1969); Blades v. United States, 407 F.2d 1397 (9th Cir. 1969); Palmer v. United States, 401 F.2d 226 (9th Cir. 1968).”

See also United States v. Johnson, 439 F.2d 700 (9th Cir. 1971) (Per Curiam). The reason for such a rule appears to be expressed in Blades v. United States, 407 F.2d 1397, 1399 (9th Cir. 1969), where the Court said:

“The registrant’s purpose in filing a document such as Form No. 150 for conscientious objectors is to have the local board reopen a classification. If the Board does not have the form before the time for induction, it can hardly be faulted for not reopening. At the point of induction, its classification function had ceased. United States v. Palmer, supra. [401 F.2d 226 (9th Cir. 1968)].
‘There must be some end to the time when registrants can raise a claim of conscientious objection to induction, and raise and re-raise an alleged right to review. Any other conclusion would result in chaos.’ Boyd v. United States, 9 Cir., 1959, 269 F.2d 607-612. See also Hoapili v. United States, 9 Cir., 1968, 395 F.2d 656, 657-658.” (emphasis added)

Furthermore, after a registrant has refused induction, the authority of the selective service board is limited to attempting to secure the registrant’s compliance with the induction order. In United States v. Hart, 433 F.2d 950, 951 (9th Cir. 1970) (Per Curiam), the Court made this observation:

“As to those who fail to report for induction, the Selective Service regulations, 32 CFR § 1642.41(a), provide, in pertinent part:

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United States v. Clark Allen Roberts, 443 F.2d 1009, 1971 U.S. App. LEXIS 9650 (8th Cir. 1971).

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