United States v. Manns

135 F. Supp. 624, 1955 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2623
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 27, 1955
DocketNo. 55 CR 288
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 135 F. Supp. 624 (United States v. Manns) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Manns, 135 F. Supp. 624, 1955 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2623 (N.D. Ill. 1955).

Opinion

HOFFMAN, District Judge.

The defendant was indicted under Section 12 of the Universal Military Training and Service Act, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 462, for failing to perform a duty required by that Act. The indictment charged that on July 10, 1953, the defendant, who was classified 1-0 (conscientious objector opposed to both combatant and noncombatant service) was ordered by his Local Board “to report for civilian work contributing to the national health, safety and interest to the Manteno State Hospital” and “did willfully and knowingly neglect, fail and refuse to perform the duty of reporting for and performing such civilian work as ordered by his Local Board”. The case was tried to the court without a jury. Both parties have submitted briefs directed to some of the legal questions raised by the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal made at the close of the Government’s evidence and renewed at the close of all the evidence.

The defendant filed his selective service questionnaire on October 16, 1950, requesting a ministerial classification (IV-D). On November 7, 1950; Local Board 56 classified him I-A, and he requested both a personal appearance before the Board (held on November 21, 1950) and an appeal from its action. On September 13, 1951, Manns took the Armed Forces physical examination and was certified acceptable for service. Also in September 1951, Manns filed the special form for conscientious objectors “since I have not been recognized as a minister.” The Local Board affirmed the I-A classification in November 1951, but the Appeal Board, by unanimous vote, on October 8, 1952, reclassified’ Manns as I-O. There followed negotiations between Manns and Selective Service officials with a view to determining the type of civilian work that would be suitable for Manns to perform in accordance with Section 6(j) of the Act, 50 U.S.C.A: Appendix, § 456(j). Manns declined to specify his preference and in a personal meeting on January 13, 1953, with the members of the Local Board and the representative of the State Director of Selective Service he “definitely refused to agree to any of the work designated for a conscientious objector and stated that he was aware,of the consequences.” Finally, on June 29, 1953, Manns was sent a written form assigning him to hospital work at Manteno State Hospital, Manteno, Illinois (a mental hospital), and ordering him to report to the local board on July 10 for instructions to proceed to the place of employment. MannS did not report to the Local Board on that date, nor has he at any time reported to the Hospital for his assigned work.

One of the grounds assigned by the defendant in the written motion for judgment of acquittal was that the denial of his claim for exemption as a minister was arbitrary and without basis [626]*626in fact. This point was not argued in the brief, and no facts to support it are called to our attention. The defendant’s selective service file and his testimony at the trial reveal that he is a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses and was ordained as a minister in 1940 at the age of 10. His religious sincerity is not questioned, as evidenced by his final classification as a conscientious objector. But at the time of his registration he held a full-time job, 40 hours a week, as a warehouseman. He did not hold any one of the official positions in his Unit of the Witnesses which might have entailed additional ministerial responsibilities. He told the hearing officer who heard his selective service appeal that in the period preceding the hearing he devoted about 5 hours a month to his ministry. It is clear that there was a strong basis in fact for the denial to Manns of a ministerial exemption. See United States v. Steinhart, D.C.M.D.Pa.1955, 129 F.Supp. 594.

The defendant contends that the order to perform civilian work at a state mental hospital is invalid because (1) such work is not national work as required by the Act, 50 U.S.C.A. Appendix, § 451 et seq., (2) the Act, if construed to include this work, calls for a private non-federal labor draft in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment, and (3) the Act, if so construed, violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. These arguments have been fully answered on numerous occasions. See the cases collected in United States v. Hoepker, 7 Cir., 1955, 223 F.2d 921.

It is contended that the proof fails to establish the offense charged in the indictment. The defendant interprets the indictment as charging him with the offense of failing to report to Manteno State Hospital and to perform civilian work there. The evidence, on the other hand, is said to show only that he failed to report to his Local Board. Since the written order sent to him reads,

“You are ordered to report to the local board named above at 9:30 a. m. on the 10th day of July, 1953, where you will be given instructions to proceed to the place of employment”,

the defendant says that he could not have violated a due order to report at Manteno because he never showed up at his Local Board to get such an order. The defendant misreads both the order and the indictment. The duty that arises from the order is apparent from a reading of the document. It is titled, “Order to Report for Civilian Work and Statement of Employer”. It tells the defendant that he has been assigned to hospital work at Manteno State Hospital. In addition to the order to report to the Local Board (quoted above), it states:

“You are ordered to report for employment pursuant to the instructions of the local board, to remain in employment for twenty-four (24) consecutive months * *

And, finally, the order warns its recipient that

“Failure to report at the hour and on the day named in this order, or to proceed to the place of employment pursuant to instructions or to remain in this employment the specified time will constitute a violation of the Universal Military Training and Service Act * *

The duty of performing civilian service does not arise independently after the registrant has reported to the Local Board. The order is composite and requires his attendance at the board (which is simply a procedural step) and his performance of civilian work at the place named in the order. The indictment in this case closely followed the language of the order and charged the defendant with failing “to perform the duty of reporting for and performing such civilian work as ordered by his Local Board”. By the defendant’s own admission he did not report to the Local Board. A letter from the superintendent of Manteno State Hospital (as well as the defendant’s admissions) establishes that he did not go to Manteno to perform the work assigned him. The proof fully meets the charge of the indictment. See Williams v. United States, 9 Cir., 1953, 203 F.2d 85, certiorari denied, 1953, 345 U.S. 1003, 73 S.Ct. 1149, 97 L.Ed. 1408, where the [627]*627defendant contended that proof of his failure to report to his Local Board as ordered did not establish the charge of the indictment that he had refused to submit to induction. The court refused to convert an order to report for induction into two distinct orders — one to report to the induction center, and the other to submit to induction. Both duties arose from the same order.

Section 1604.41 of the Selective Service Regulations, in effect at the times ma- • terial here, provided as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
135 F. Supp. 624, 1955 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2623, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-manns-ilnd-1955.