Saturday, September21 , 1968
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
M . "JV* " -
Court inay ovrrledraft reas~if uicati..o
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Page Five
ate \
By SUSIE SCHMIDT
WASHINGTON (CPS) - Next
month the Supreme Court will
hear a draft case that may affect
hundreds of young men around
the country whose verdict will al-
most surely deal a blow to the
Selective Service System and the
procedures it has followed during
recent months in reclassifying
protesters.
In an unusual development for
such a case, the defendant, a 24-
year-old divinity student, and the
prosecution, attorneys r for the
Justice Department, have both re-
commended the same holding -
that the decision of a lower court
to uphold his reclassification to
I-A and his subsequent induction
because of his protest activity-
be reversed.
REFUTES HERSHEY
The Justice Department, in re-
commending reversal, has collid-
ed with the Selective Service and
its director, Lewis B. Hershey, who
maintain that local boards have
a right to reclassify "those who
engage in illegal activity" as de-
linquents-an action that puts
them at the head of the list of
priority for induction.
The American Civil Liberties
Union, which represents Oeste-
reich, is fighting the reclassifica-
tion on several grounds. and on
several levels. It argues that:
The declaration of delinquency
and reclassification is invalid be-
cause it is punitive and therefore
cannot be undertaken without the
due process safeguards to the re-
gistrant required by the Consti-
tution (counsel, confrontation and
cross-examination, and impartial
tribunal and so on);
w That the act of returning a
draft card is speech protected by
the First Amendment. Evidence
here, among other things, is the
fact that in the original Selective
Service Act after World War I
"failure to possess (have on one's
person, as it is now interpreted)
a Registration Certificate (draft
card)" was not on its face illegal,'
but was merely evidence (to be
investigated) of failure to regis-
ter, which was illegal.
The Justice, Department brief,
filed last week, admits that incon-
sistencies existed between the pro-
vision for exemption (which, ac-
cording to Solicitor General Er-
win Griswold; is guaranteed by
Congress and not subject to local
board interference) and the pro-
vision for reclassification.
The Justice brief also puts
much of the blame for the tricky
- legal situation on General Her-
shey. The Department has prev-
iously argued that his October 24
letter to local boards, recommend-
ing that they reclassify and induct
protesters posthaste, was a "state-
ment of personal opinion only"
and not mandatory or binding.
In cases brought against Her-
shey last spring by the National
Student Association, the c o u r t
ruled that local boards were not
legally affected by that directive.
Now, however, the Justice De-
partment, in a deviation from its
spring position, agrees with the
opposition that Hershey's memor-
andum, for all its "informal"
status, was indeed in effect "in-
viting local boards to use their re-
classification powers in a puni-
tive way"-- using them to "get
the bad guys."
It urges the court to take into
account when it considers the
case the fact that (as the ACLU
counts) at least 76 of the 650
men who turned in draft cards in
October are now involved in legal
proceedings because they have
been "Teclassified.
CASE SIGNIFICANT
The Oestereich case is the first
of all these, perhaps the only one,
to reach the "court of last re-
sort," the Supreme Court. Its de-
cision will affect hundreds of
other cases now in court.
If it decides on the narrow point
of law recommended by the Jus-
tice Department, that will still af-
fect perhaps 1000 cases, accord-
ing to officials. If it should decide
to tackle the whole problem of in-
consistencies and illegalities in the
Selective Service law in general
terms, as advocated by the ACLU,
its ruling will affect every re-
classification instance now in pro-
cess.
HERSHEY LOSES
Either way, General Hershey
has lost his battle this time.Al-
though the Justice Department
gave him eight pages in its brief,
explaining his side of the story
and stating the Selective Service
case for upholding the reclassifi-
cation, it would not let him enter
his own brief to the Court.
Both sides seem to concur that
his memo last October was a
blunder, both technically and leg-
ally. And both concur that local
boards have acted illegally in
many cases.
The differences come in basic
support for the draft as it now
exists. Most telling, perhaps, is the
ACLU's continual references to
reclassification as "punitive", and
the Justice lawyers' contention
that "induction isn't punishment"
-inferring that young people
should be happy to serve in the
armed forces, not try to avoid it
by any means possible.
DRAFT ISSUE
The really broad issues -- whe-
ther delinquency reclassification
should be considered illegal not
even as punishment for past deeds
be because it forces compliance
with the procedures of the draft
system, whether it denies the right
of free speech to registrants who
must be afraid to dissent for fear
of being reclassified -- are only
touched on in this case. But they,
too, are still hovering beneath the
surface, ready to come up next
time.
'COOL AND ARTICULATE,
Julian Bond gains recognition
in wake of Chicago convention
ATLANTA, Ga. (P) - "Every-
where I go I can see people
whispering, 'That's him, That's
him.' I don't like it. I don't like
for people to talk about me."
Julian Bond seems to find na-
tional prominence a little hard to
live with. But people. were talk-
ing even before his role inkthe
limelight at the Democratic Na-
tional Convention. And they are
not likely to stop.
Bond - ' Georgia state repre-
sentative, war critic, articulate
civil rights spokesman and - for
a few minutes -- a candidate for
the vice presidential nomination
- has been praised and damned
in many quarters.
Through it all, he remains self-
possessed, supremely calm, sen-
sitive to public opinion. '
CONVENTION FIGHT
Bond, who led a challenge dele-
gation that won half of Georgia's
votes from Gov. Lester Maddox's
state regulars in the convexntion's
bitterest credentials fight, with-
drew his name from contention
about midway in the vice presi-
dential balloting. He said he was
too young to serve, the minimum
age requirement being 35.
Although he supported Sen. Eu-
gene J. McCarthy in Chicago,
Bond said he is working actively
now for Vice President Hubert H.
Humphrey.'
"The limited gains Blacks have
made over the past eight years
are in danger of being lost under
Nixon. There would be social and
political regression. There would
be police state tactics - Chicago-
style."'
Georgia first heard of Julian
Bond in 1959 when he and several
other Negroes sought to observe
the workings of the Georgia House
of Representatives from the
white-only gallery of that cham-
ber.
"A legislator got to his feet and
yelled, "Mr. Speaker, get those
niggers out of here,' Bond re-
lated. "And Speaker George L.
Smith had us thrown out."
In 1966 Bond returned to the
House, this time as an elected re-
presentative.
His colleagues refused to s e a t
him because he had publicly en-
dorsed a statement by the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Commit-
tee -- SNCC - accusing the Unit-
ed States of aggression in Viet-
nam.
DENIED SEAT
He ran again, won again and
was denied his seat again.
Early in 1967, the U. S. Supreme
Court ordered the General Assem-
bly to seat him. Reluctantly, it
complied.
Some of those who led the fight
to deny him his seat were among
the Georgia regulars who left the
Democratic convention after the
Bond group was seated.
"I don't think, as some people
do, that you're going to have ra-
cial warfare," he said. "There
will be a series of racial clash-
es. Not as big, not as destructive
as Detroit, but more violent --
quicker."
RELATIONS WITH WHITES
Bond, said he does not hate
whites, "but I am not as comfort-
able around them."
Bond indicated that greater po-
litical power might infringe on
his personal freedom.
"I'm my own creature. Nobody
owns me. "I'd rather be obscure
and free."
A white waitress has recognized
him from television coverage of
the Chicago convention.
"You tell him we thank him
for being a gentleman up there
in all that mess," she said.
LINEBACKER CECIL PRYOR (55) scurries after sophomore ball carrier, Jim Betts (23) at scrimmage. Some Michigan fans might
see these two in action this fall, against such foes as the Minnesota Gophers, the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Michigan State Spar-
tans, and a host of other potent Big Ten teams.
Both
football'erupt agin
By FRED LaBOUR
The scholars look at football
f' as the season begins.
' 'r v "As snow descends upon th e
autumn plain, as gold descends
upon the Spanish Main, as a port-
ly man is right as rain, so doth
pigskin talk incite the peasants
to riot."
-- Paul Thunder
"I recall the first time. my pa-
ternal grandfather took my pink
hand in his and introduced me to
American football."
-Saul Arthur
"A tedious chore I fain would
do, upon the grass so sweet, and
that chore would be to find my
mouth surrounded by a cleat."
-Tim Fudge
"A football to the common man
is like a fine turke'y to the aristo-
crat. That is to say, a common
man finds solace in the football,
while the fellow of higher breed-
ing just gets fat."
--P. Staryle
"As the dawn of a new football
year comes upon us, and we see
again the very humanity that
marks our separation from the an-
imal kingdom mirrored upon the
field, I can only say 'Good luck'
to most of those contending, and
a hearty 'Bleh' to the rest."
-C. Norton
"I'm quite aware that both the
Asians and Africans are conpcious
of the "football consciousness" my
colleagues constantly refer to, but
what I want to know is this: how
does this relate to me as a stu-
dent?"
-Turner Pole
"The sweetest music to my ear
is a flock of halfbacks, leaping
deers, assaulting the other's line
so bare, that scarcely the AP pol
fellow who will start this afternoon at split end, gives his all and his did care."
-Pierce Arroi
scrimmage time. Imsland's helmet was snatched up by a passing We want the Big Ten title and
ircling Moosejaw. we want it now.
JULIAN BOND
IIf(
JERRY IMSLAND (86), a
helmet to snare a pass at
pigeon and was last seen c
TO
sict a
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