United States v. Steele

142 F. Supp. 242, 1956 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3094
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJune 13, 1956
DocketCrim. A. No. 56-9-S
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 142 F. Supp. 242 (United States v. Steele) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Steele, 142 F. Supp. 242, 1956 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3094 (D. Mass. 1956).

Opinion

SWEENEY, Chief Judge.

The defendant was indicted for violation of the Selective Service Act of 1948, as amended, Title 50, U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 462, for failure to report on August 30, 1954, to his local Selective Service Board for assignment to civilian work. He pleaded not guilty and was tried by the Court, having waived his right to a trial by jury. At the close of the evidence, a motion for judgment of acquittal was filed.

Findings of Fact

The defendant registered with his local Board on January 9, 1951, and sub[244]*244mitted his questionnaire on June 11,1951. He stated that he had been employed .since 1949, working forty hours per week .as a lathe operator. He stated further that he was not married, and was opposed in conscience to participation in warfare in any form. On September 18, 1951, he was given a hearing to determine whether he was entitled to a deferment as a •conscientious objector. He attended at the request of the Board, and informed them that he would not engage in defense work and that his employer was not under government contract. However, he was advised that his employer was under a government contract “for cantonment”. On this first hearing, the defendant advised the Board that he was a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect, and he explained to the Board the basis for his refusal to engage in the national defense, as being a matter of belief. Thereafter, the defendant was classified 1-A by the Local Board, and he received a notice of classification which he forthwith appealed. On January 7,1952, he filed a special questionnaire for conscientious objectors in which he stated that he understood that if he were so classified he would be required to perform twenty-four months of civilian work in the national health, safety or interest in lieu of induction. On January 25, 1952, the Appeal Board unanimously voted to classify him 1-A-O (conscientiously opposed to combatant service), and he was so notified on February 1, 1952. A physical examination was had and on May 1, 1952, he was advised of his acceptance. On January 16, 1953, the Board notified him to report for induction on February 20, 1953. On January 26, 1953, the Board received his letter stating that he would not report for military service as ordered. On January 29th, at the Board’s request, the defendant appeared before the Chairman and claimed status as a minister of theology. He advised the Chairman that it was the Board’s duty to confirm this status rather than his own.

On February 18, 1953, the State Director ordered the Local Board to postpone induction pending the Director’s review of the file. The defendant had written the Director on March 9, 1953, accompanied by certificates of attestation to the defendant’s status as an associate of the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect. The case was re-opened by the Director remanding it to the Local Board for re-determination of the claimed ministerial exemption and cancellation of the 1-A-O classification. On April 15,1953, another hearing was held. At this hearing he mentioned his marriage and was advised to submit data for dependency deferment, but he refused on the choice to seek exemption as a minister of religion. He still worked as a lathe operator, grossing $68 per week. The Board classified the defendant 1-0 (conscientiously opposed to both combatant and non-combatant military service). He was ordered to work in a hospital. He told the Board again that he would not accept work as a civilian if classified a conscientious objector. The Board then classified him 1-A.

On May 11, 1953, he appealed this classification and informed the Board that his wife was pregnant. The Appeal Board reversed the classification of 1-A, and classified him 1-0 (conscientious objector to combatant and non-combatant service) on December 12, 1953. He was advised of this classification and a further request for reconsideration was denied on the basis of the Appeal Board’s classification.

His first claim for dependency was made on February 8, 1954, some five and one-half months after the effective date for submitting evidence in support of such claim under § 1622.30 of the Selective Service Regulations, 32 C.F.R., § 1622.30.

Further transactions to the effect that the defendant claimed to the Appeals Board that the Local Board had overlooked his evidence of dependency, submitted prior to August 25, 1953, and requesting reclassification, are unnecessary to consider.

The defendant’s claim for dependency was denied In a separate hearing by the [245]*245Board, as being untimely requested. It was determined also that it would not be a hardship for the defendant to perform civilian work. On April 14, 1954, under authority of 32 C.F.R., § 1660.20(c), a conference between the Board and the defendant failed to produce any agreement as to a type of work for the defendant. Further, pursuant to regulations, 32 C.F.R., § 1660.20(a), on June 17, 1954, the State Director approved the Local Board's selection of New England Deaconess Hospital for the defendant’s work. He did not comply with this order.

I conclude and rule that in none of the unilateral or bilateral transactions of the Local Board or of the Board of Appeals was there that arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, or otherwise unlawful conduct asserted by the defendant as the basis of his motion for judgment of acquittal. On the whole, I am rather impressed by the spartan extension of effort accorded by the Board to the defendant, which certainly went more than half the distance.

The defendant was not denied due process in the Board’s refusal to reopen his ease to determine his entitlement to a dependency classification, because of his failure to satisfy the requirements of § 1622.30 of the Selective Service Regulations, 32 C.F.R., § 1622.30; Klubnikin v. United States, 9 Cir., 227 F. 2d 87, certiorari denied 350 U.S., 975, 76 S.Ct. 453. Specifically, I find that by his determined failure to introduce evidence of dependency he waived the benefit of subsection (a), and I find and rule that the weekly wage he would have earned as a hospital attendant would not be so disproportionate to his customary wage as a lathe operator as to constitute a hardship under subsection (b).

The evidence establishes that the Board was within its power in denying the ministerial classification, as the terms of ministerial classification are defined in 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 466(g). See also Dickinson v. U. S., 346 U.S. 389, 74 S.Ct. 152, 98 L.Ed. 132. The burden of establishing his qualification as a minister of religion is the defendant’s, and I rule that in this case the defendant did not discharge that burden. See also Cox v. U. S., 332 U.S. 442, 68 S.Ct. 115, 92 L.Ed. 59, to the effect that the Court is limited by the evidence offered to the Board and to the Appeals Board in determining whether the claimed status has been established.

The defendant urges that the action of the Board in denying him the ministerial classification was motivated by caprice, restricted to the fact that he lacked a diploma or certificate from a theological seminary. In this argument I cannot concur. The determination was based on testimony of the defendant, as well as documentary support contained in his questionnaires and other applications. I find that there was no denial of due process in the Board’s refusal to hear the attestation of the defendant’s proposed witness.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Howe
144 F. Supp. 342 (D. Massachusetts, 1956)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
142 F. Supp. 242, 1956 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3094, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-steele-mad-1956.