''United States v. Seeger'', 380 U.S. 163 (1965), was a case in which the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
ruled that the exemption from the
military draft for
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
s could be reserved not only for those professing conformity with the moral directives of a
supreme being but also for those whose views on war derived from a "sincere and meaningful belief which occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by the God of those" who had routinely gotten the exemption.
[.]
The case resolved, on diverse but related grounds, three cases, each involving conviction for failure to accept induction into the
armed forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
on the part of someone who sought conscientious-objector status without "belong
ngto an orthodox religious sect". The accused, whose cases were otherwise unrelated, were Arno Sascha Jakobson, Forest Britt Peter, and
Daniel Andrew Seeger; it was Seeger's case that gave its name to the multi-case decision.
See also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 380
* ''
Welsh v. United States'', 398 U.S. 333.
References
Further reading
* ''In stillness there is fullness: a peacemaker's harvest: essays and reflections in honor of Daniel A. Seeger's four decades of Quaker service''; edited by Peter Bien and
Chuck Fager
Charles Eugene Fager (born 1942), known as Chuck Fager, is an American activist, author, editor, publisher and an outspoken and prominent member of the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers. He is known for his work in both the Civil Rights Mo ...
, Belfonte, Pennsylvania, Kimo Press, . This ''festschrift'' includes:
** "Excerpts from and comments on a Thesis called 'The challenge to the Supreme Court of the case ''United States v. Seeger" by Margery W. Rubin
** "The Seeger decision" by L. William Yolton
** "The Supreme Court decision"
*
External links
*
* {{caselaw source
, case = ''United States v. Seeger'', {{ussc, 380, 163, 1965, el=no
, justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/380/163/
, loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep380/usrep380163/usrep380163.pdf
, oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1964/50
Conscientious objection
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court
1965 in United States case law
American Civil Liberties Union litigation
United States military case law