United States v. Lewis

302 F. Supp. 510, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9869
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 31, 1969
DocketNo. 66-CR-135
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 302 F. Supp. 510 (United States v. Lewis) 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. Lewis, 302 F. Supp. 510, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9869 (E.D. Wis. 1969).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

REYNOLDS, District Judge.

The defendant, Marc Anthony Lewis, is charged in a one-count indictment with willfully and knowingly refusing induction into the Armed Forces of the United States on June 22, 1966, in violation of Title 50 App. of the United States Code of Laws § 462.

In selective service cases it is the policy of this court to give the defendant every opportunity to reconsider his decision to refuse induction into the Armed Forces. Following this policy, an arrangement was worked out between the defendant and counsel, and with the approval of the court, whereby the defendant consented to report for induction on [512]*512December 11, 1967, with the understanding that if he was inducted or if he was refused induction for a reason beyond his control, he would not be prosecuted for his refusal to submit for induction on June 22, 1966.

The defendant reported for induction as agreed, but because he was at that time on probation for a state felony conviction (i. e. possession of marijuana), he was found morally unacceptable for military service and subsequently reclassified I-Y (qualified for military service only in war or national emergency). Since the defendant had been refused induction solely on account of his own criminal conduct subsequent to his refusal to report for induction on June 22, 1966, the Government proceeded with its prosecution of this matter.

The matter was tried to the court on March 10, 1969, at which time the defendant was technically still classified I-Y. At the outset of the trial, however, the defendant was informed that as a result of cooperative efforts between the Government and the State, an arrangement had been worked out according to which the State would terminate his remaining period of. probation if he would report for induction, and such probation having been terminated, the Armed Forces would accept him for induction. The defendant nevertheless stated that even under these circumstances he would refuse to submit for induction as long as black Americans are denied equal treatment.

At the conclusion of trial, the defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the grounds that (1) he had been denied due process of law during his classification by the Selective Service System, (2) his June 3, 1966, order to report for induction had been invalidly issued, (3) his refusal to submit to induction on June 22, 1966, had not been “willfully and knowingly” made, and (4) his June 3, 1966, order to report for induction had in effect been cancelled by his subsequent I-Y classification. Counsel were requested to submit proposed post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law. Following the filing of such findings and conclusions, the matter was taken under advisement, and it is now ready for decision.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Defendant has requested that the court make specific findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 23(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Based on the testimony and exhibits introduced at trial, I find the facts pertinent to this action to be as follows:

The defendant is an intelligent, idealistic twenty-three year old Negro who was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 8, 1945. He graduated from Milwaukee’s Riverside High School and completed two years at Howard University. In recent years he has been active in the civil rights movement. He has participated in demonstrations in Milwaukee as well as in registering Negroes to vote in Alabama. He has worked with the Milwaukee United School Integration Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

On May 17, 1965, the defendant registered for the draft and completed his classification questionnaire (SSS Form 100) wherein he did not claim to be a conscientious objector.

On May 24, 1965, he was classified I-A (registrant available for military service) by Milwaukee County Selective Service Board No. 44 (hereinafter “Local Board”). The defendant has indicated that upon receipt of this classification notice and the accompanying notice of right to a personal appearance and/or an appeal, he gave no thought to appealing his I-A classification.

On July 23, 1965, he was ordered, by mail, to report for a physical examination on August 13, 1965, and he failed to report; on August 27, 1965, he was ordered, by mail, to report for a physical examination on September 17, 1965, and [513]*513he failed to report; on September 23, 1965, he was ordered, by mail, to report for a physical examination on October 6, 1965, and he failed to report; and on November 9, 1965, for the fourth time, he was ordered, by mail, to report.for a physical examination on November 29, 1965. On November 29, 1965, he did report for his physical examination. The defendant was subsequently found physically qualified for military service.

On December 16, 1965, the defendant went to his Local Board and obtained an SSS Form 150 which is used by registrants to apply for conscientious objector classification. The defendant did not fill out or file the SSS Form 150 on this occasion.

The defendant was found acceptable for induction and ordered by his Local Board to report at the induction station in Milwaukee on March 18, 1966. Defendant did not report for induction as ordered. Instead, he filed an SSS Form 150 with his Local Board on March 21, 1966. In this form he stated that being a Negro, he personally felt that he could not, in good faith, serve in the Armed Forces of the United States as either a combatant or a noncombatant until granted the same opportunities and protections under the law as other citizens.

On May 16, 1966, the Local Board met and reopened the defendant’s classification despite his earlier refusal to report for induction. On this occasion the Local Board reviewed the defendant’s conscientious objector claim but again classified him I-A. On May 17, 1966, a notice of classification (SSS Form 110) classifying the defendant I-A was sent to .the defendant in Eutaw, Alabama. Accompanying this notice was a notice of the defendant’s rights regarding a personal appearance before the Local Board and appeal of the Local Board’s decision. The defendant admits to living at the Eutaw, Alabama, address in May, but denies having received the notice.

The State Director of the Selective Service System issued a call to the Local Board for twelve men to report for induction on June 22, 1966. The Local Board did not meet after receiving this notice of call to determine which registrants would be ordered to report for induction on June 22, 1966. Rather, the clerk of the Local Board, Mrs. Amanda Federspiel, followed the standing operating procedure which had been established at the Local Board. More specifically, I find the procedure followed by Local Board 44 relative to calling up registrants for induction, including this defendant, to be as follows: When a registrant is classified I-A at a meeting of the Local Board, the Board clerk places such registrant’s name in a special “desk copy” book which is prepared and kept by the Board clerk. This book contains the names of all the Local Board’s registrants who have been classified I-A by action of the Local Board and are qualified and available for military service.

These registrants’ names are listed in chronological order according to date of birth, the oldest of such registrants being listed first.

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390 F. Supp. 310 (S.D. New York, 1975)
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49 F.R.D. 153 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
302 F. Supp. 510, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lewis-wied-1969.