{"id":6252,"date":"2021-06-07T10:12:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T15:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=6252"},"modified":"2021-06-07T10:12:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T15:12:57","slug":"supreme-court-wont-hear-case-on-military-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=6252","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Won’t Hear Case on Military Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Supreme Court on Monday\u00a0declined to hear a challenge\u00a0to a federal law that requires only men to register for the military draft.\"a\u00a9 Hilary Swift for The New York Times\u00a0Women Marine recruits training at Parris Island in South Carolina last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is the court\u2019s custom, it gave no reasons for turning down the case. But three justices issued a statement saying that Congress should be allowed more time to consider what they acknowledged was a significant legal issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act,\u201d Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the statement, which was joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Brett M. Kavanaugh. \u201cBut at least for now, the court\u2019s longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The requirement is one of the last sex-based distinctions in federal law, one that challengers say cannot be justified now that women are\u00a0allowed to serve in every role in the military, including ground combat. Unlike men, though, they are not required to register with the Selective Service System, the government agency that maintains a database of Americans who would be eligible for the draft were it reinstated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unequal treatment \u201cimposes selective burdens on men, reinforces the notion that women are not full and equal citizens, and perpetuates stereotypes about men\u2019s and women\u2019s capabilities,\u201d lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a petition<\/a> on behalf of two men who were required to register and the National Coalition for Men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1981, in\u00a0Rostker v. Goldberg, the Supreme Court rejected a sex-discrimination challenge to the registration requirement, reasoning that it was justified because women could not at that time serve in combat roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince women are excluded from combat service by statute or military policy,\u201d Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the majority, \u201cmen and women are simply not similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, Justice Sotomayor wrote that \u201cthe role of women in the military has changed dramatically since then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeginning in 1991,\u201d she wrote, \u201cthousands of women have served with distinction in a wide range of combat roles, from operating military aircraft and naval vessels to participating in boots-on-the-ground infantry missions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower courts had agreed with that assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019,\u00a0Judge Gray H. Miller, of the Federal District Court in Houston, ruled that since women can now serve in combat, the men-only registration requirement\u00a0was no longer justified. A unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, agreed that \u201cthe factual underpinning of the controlling Supreme Court decision has changed.\u201d But it said that\u00a0only the Supreme Court\u00a0could overrule its own precedent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration defended the differing registration requirements in the appeals court. The Biden administration urged the Supreme Court not to hear the case,\u00a0National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, No. 20-928, but it did not defend the constitutionality of the law. Instead, it asked the justices to give Congress more time to consider the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year,\u00a0a congressional commission concluded\u00a0that expanding the registration requirement to women was \u201ca necessary \u2014 and overdue \u2014 step\u201d that \u201csignals that both men and women are valued for their contributions in defending the nation.\u201d That echoed recommendations from military leaders. But Congress, which has long been studying the question, has yet to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men who fail to register can face harsh punishments, including criminal prosecution, denial of student loans and disqualification from citizenship. Eight states do not let men enroll in public universities unless they have registered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has not drafted anyone since the Vietnam War, and there is no reason to think that will change. The challengers said that was a reason for the court to act now, before a crisis arises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShould the court declare the men-only registration requirement unconstitutional,\u201d their brief said, \u201cCongress has considerable latitude to decide how to respond. It could require everyone between the ages of 18 and 26, regardless of sex, to register; it could rescind the registration requirement entirely; or it could adopt a new approach altogether, such as replacing\u201d the registration requirement \u201cwith a more expansive national service requirement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of retired military officers, along with the Center for Military Readiness, urged the court to deny review<\/a>, saying the 1981 precedent was sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brief said that Congress rather than the court should decide who must register. It added that the challengers \u201calso fail to address the elephant in the room: Men, as a group, are stronger, bigger, faster and have greater endurance than women as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another group retired military officers \u2014 including Michael V. Hayden, who directed both the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency; Stanley A. McChrystal, a former commander in Afghanistan; and Claudia J. Kennedy, first woman to become a three-star general in the Army \u2014 urged the court to hear the case<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIncluding women in the Selective Service would double the pool of candidates available to draft,\u201d their brief said, \u201craising the overall quality of the conscripted force and enabling the nation to better meet its military needs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Supreme Court on Monday\u00a0declined to hear a challenge\u00a0to a federal law that requires only men to register for the military draft.\u00a9 Hilary Swift for The New York Times\u00a0Women Marine recruits training at [read more]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\nSupreme Court Won't Hear Case on Military Draft -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=6252\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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