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Supreme Court asked to review men-only draft registration law
The question of whether it’s unconstitutional to require men but not women to register could be viewed as one with little practical impact. The last time there was a draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since. But the registration requirement is one of the few remaining places where federal law treats men and women differently, and women’s groups are among those arguing that allowing it to stand is harmful.
The justices could say as soon as Monday whether they will hear a case involving the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men to register for the draft.
The question of whether it’s unconstitutional to require men but not women to register could be viewed as one with little practical impact. The last time there was a draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since. But the registration requirement is one of the few remaining places where federal law treats men and women differently, and women’s groups are among those arguing that allowing it to stand is harmful.
The justices could say as soon as Monday whether they will hear a case involving the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men to register for the draft.
U.S. Army Infantry soldiers-in-training assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 198th Infantry Brigade, at Fort Benning, Georgia, conduct basic rifle marksmanship training (BRM) March 23, 2017. (Patrick A. Albright/Army)
Biden wants Congress, not courts, to decide on adding women to military draft
U.S. Supreme Court considering whether to take up the case.
Todd South
Ria Tabacco Mar, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project, who is urging the court to take up the issue, says requiring men to register imposes a “serious burden on men that’s not being imposed on women.”
Men who do not register can lose eligibility for student loans and civil service jobs, and failing to register is also a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison. But Tabacco Mar says the male-only requirement does more than that.
“It’s also sending a tremendously harmful message that women are less fit than men to serve their country in this particular way and conversely that men are less fit than women to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict. We think those stereotypes demean both men and women,” she said.
Even if the draft is never used again, retaining the men-only requirement sends a “really damaging message,” said Tabacco Mar, who represents the National Coalition For Men and two individual men challenging the law.
The justices could say as soon as Monday whether they will hear a case involving the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men to register for the draft.
The question of whether it’s unconstitutional to require men but not women to register could be viewed as one with little practical impact. The last time there was a draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since. But the registration requirement is one of the few remaining places where federal law treats men and women differently, and women’s groups are among those arguing that allowing it to stand is harmful.
The justices could say as soon as Monday whether they will hear a case involving the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men to register for the draft.
U.S. Army Infantry soldiers-in-training assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 198th Infantry Brigade, at Fort Benning, Georgia, conduct basic rifle marksmanship training (BRM) March 23, 2017. (Patrick A. Albright/Army)
Biden wants Congress, not courts, to decide on adding women to military draft
U.S. Supreme Court considering whether to take up the case.
Todd South
Ria Tabacco Mar, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project, who is urging the court to take up the issue, says requiring men to register imposes a “serious burden on men that’s not being imposed on women.”
Men who do not register can lose eligibility for student loans and civil service jobs, and failing to register is also a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison. But Tabacco Mar says the male-only requirement does more than that.
“It’s also sending a tremendously harmful message that women are less fit than men to serve their country in this particular way and conversely that men are less fit than women to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict. We think those stereotypes demean both men and women,” she said.
Even if the draft is never used again, retaining the men-only requirement sends a “really damaging message,” said Tabacco Mar, who represents the National Coalition For Men and two individual men challenging the law.
I think its about time for this. All military positions have been opened to women so why not make them subject to the draft as well, even though its unlikely to be used barring some very drastic unseen events.
11 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
are just itching to blow away some "furriners" anyway and let them be on the front lines. Solve two problems at once! 
One of the primary reasons the age of majority (including the voting age) was lowered from 21 to 18 was the fact that 18-year-olds could be drafted into military service and shipped off to Viet Nam.
Agreed that Smedley Butler had it right.
* 169.36 Million is the estimated number of women in the U.S. today.
