United States v. Hertlein

143 F. Supp. 742, 1956 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3027
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedAugust 9, 1956
DocketNo. 56-CR-48
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 143 F. Supp. 742 (United States v. Hertlein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Hertlein, 143 F. Supp. 742, 1956 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3027 (E.D. Wis. 1956).

Opinion

GRUBB, District Judge.

The indictment charges the defendant, Ronald Gene Hertlein, with violations of the Universal Military Training and Service Act, Title 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 462. Count I charges that the defendant refused and failed to report for an Armed Forces physical examination as ordered by his local board. Count II charges that the defendant failed and refused to report for induction as ordered on September 22, 1953. Count III charges that the defendant failed to carry in his personal possession his draft registration certificate. Count IV charges that the defendant failed to carry in his personal possession a valid notice of his classification on July 18, 1953, and thereafter.

The defendant registered with Selective Service on September 6, 1949. Approximately one year later, he .completed his Selective Service Questionnaire. At that time he was a full-time university student. He indicated on his questionnaire that he was a conscientious objector.

On November 3, 1950, the defendant was classified IA-O. Thereafter, the defendant was given several II-S classifications because of his enrollment in college.

The defendant was classified IA-0 on June 29, 1953, and was ordered by his local board to report for an Armed Forces Physical Examination on July 21.

A letter of seven typewritten pages sent by the defendant to his local board was received by the board on July 9, 1953. The defendant therein appealed his IA-0 classification and indicated that he desired a 1-0 classification. Most of the letter was an explanation of the defendant’s views on war and the current problems of the world. The defendant’s objections to serving in the army were based on philosophical and humanitarian views rather than on religious belief. The local board never forwarded the appeal but instead reopened defendant’s classification and reclassified him I-A on July 13, 1953.

On July 22, 1953, the board received a most unusual communication from the defendant. The defendant stated, among other matters, that:

“To be under any classification, be it IO or 4F, would automatically imply my approval and acceptance of the Selective Service System;
“I cannot conscientiously ask or allow the State to condescendingly admit me to a special classification provided for a bothersome tiny mi[744]*744nority of men ‘who conscientiously object to war’, * * *
“* * * I have no choice but to separate myself from the Selective Service System and proclaim that I no longer consider myself under its control. I thereby enclose my draft cards as an expression of my new freedom. I also will not report for my physical examination on July 21. These acts I do fully aware of their consequences.”

Enclosed in the letter were defendant’s registration certificate and five notices of classification. Among the classification cards was the notice of I-A classification issued on July 14, 1953. Defendant’s classification card of June 29, 1953, showing a IA-0 classification, was not returned to the board.

Defendant did not appeal from the I-A classification nor did he report for his physical examination. An order of the board that the defendant report for induction on September 22, 1953 was ignored by the defendant.

Count I

There is no dispute as to the fact that the defendant failed to report for his , Armed Forces Physical Examination on July 21, 1953. Defendant’s letter of July 18, 1953, left little doubt that the defendant knew of his duty to report for the physical and that he would refuse to report on the day specified.

The defendant had a duty to take his physical examination as ordered whether or not an appeal was pending. Section 1628.11, S.S. Regs., states:

“(b) In complying with such directive, the local board .shall mail an Order to Report for Armed Forces Physical Examination * * * to registrants who have been classified in Class I-A, Class I-A-O, and Class 1-0 without regard to whether the registrants have requested or will request a personal appearance before the local board and without regard to whether an appeal has been or tvill be taken.” (Emphasis supplied.)

Section 1628.16, S.S. Regs., clearly points out the registrant’s duty to report for his physical examination when he is ordered to do so by his local board.

The court finds that the defendant has never reported for his Armed Forces Physical Examination and that his refusal to comply with the order of his local board has no legal justification. It is the verdict and judgment of the court that defendant is guilty as charged in Count I.

Count II

The defendant failed to report for induction on September 22, 1953, as ordered by his local board. The testimony of the Chairman of defendant’s local board was that no appeal was allowed from the IA-0 classification, that it was the judgment of the board that defendant’s letter received July 22, 1953, was in effect an abandonment of the appeal, that the file was sent to the appeal board in November 1953 as a matter of course because of the delinquency of the defendant, that such reference was in no way an appeal.

One issue before the court regarding this Count is whether, after a registrant has filed an appeal, the local board may reopen his classification and reclassify him, thus cutting off the registrant’s original appeal and forcing the registrant to appeal from the new classification. The Selective Service Regulations do not give a clear-cut answer to the above question. Section 1625.2, S.S. Regs., provides:

“The local board may reopen and consider anew the classification of a registrant * * * (b) upon its own motion if such action is based upon facts not considered when the registrant was classified which, if true, would justify a change in the registrant’s classification * *

That section says nothing about the power of the board to reopen and reclassify during the pendency of an appeal.

[745]*745Section 1626.13, S.S. Regs., which relates to appeal procedure, does shed some light on this matter.

“Immediately upon an appeal being taken to the appeal board * * * the local board shall prepare the Individual Appeal Record * * * The local board shall carefully check the registrant’s file to make certain that all steps required by the regulations in this chapter have been taken and that the record is complete.” (Emphasis supplied.)

Subsection (b) provides:

“The file of a registrant who appeals * * * shall be forwarded by the local board to the appeal board * * *” (Emphasis supplied.)

Section 1626.14, S.S. Regs., states:

“The registrant’s file shall be forwarded to the appeal board * * * immediately after the period provided in paragraph (c) of section 1626.2 for taking an appeal has elapsed and the local board has complied with the provisions of section 1626.13, but in no event shall the file be forwarded later than five days after the period for taking an appeal has elapsed.” (Emphasis supplied.)

It is the opinion of this court that when an appeal is taken from a classification of the local board, the local board has then but one duty, namely, to immediately get the registrant’s file in order and to forward it to the appeal board or appropriate agency.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
143 F. Supp. 742, 1956 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3027, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hertlein-wied-1956.