Baxley v. United States

• Decision Date: 02 April 1943
• Docket Number: No. 5054.,5054.
• Citation: 134 F.2d 937
• Parties: BAXLEY v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

134 F.2d 937 (1943)

BAXLEY v. UNITED STATES.

No. 5054.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

April 2, 1943.

Before PARKER, SOPER, and DOBIE, Circuit Judges.

William H. Smith, of Florence, S. C., for appellant.

Louis M. Shimel, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Charleston, S. C. (C. N. Sapp, U. S. Atty. of Columbia, S. C., and Ben Scott Whaley, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Charleston, S. C., on the brief), for appellee.

DOBIE, Circuit Judge.

The appellant here, John Melvin Baxley (hereinafter called Baxley), was indicted, tried, convicted and sentenced in the United States District Court, for a violation of 50 U.S.C.A. Appendix, § 311. The material part of the indictment charged that Baxley "unlawfully, knowingly and wilfully did counsel one Arthur Haselden, and his son Elbert Haselden, one Dave Donley, and his son David Donley, one Philip Spring, and divers other persons, to the grand jurors aforesaid unknown, to evade service in the land or naval forces of the United States." Under the statute in question, it is a federal crime when anyone "knowingly counsels, aids, or abets another to evade registration or service in the land or naval forces or any of the requirements of this Act."

Baxley, on this appeal, raises three questions. He contends: (1) Under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, he had a valid, unrestricted guarantee of the right to teach and preach his religion; (2) He did not "knowingly" counsel evasion of the Selective Service Act, because there was no proof that he knew of the provisions of this Act; (3) Prejudicial evidence was admitted as to his beliefs, views and practices. These contentions, which we believe to be lacking in merit, are now separately discussed.

(1) The Constitutional Guarantee of Religious Freedom.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides in part: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."

Here, indeed, is a broad and fine guarantee which has been, and doubtless should be, liberally and generously interpreted by the courts. Yet it is equally clear that the rights of an individual under this Amendment are neither absolute nor limitless. Said Mr. Justice Holmes in Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47, 52, 39 S.Ct. 247, 249, 63 L.Ed. 470: "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre, and causing a panic." In Barnette v. West Virginia State Board of Education, D.C., 47 F.Supp. 251, 253, Circuit Judge Parker said:

"This does not mean, of course, that what a man may do or refrain from doing in the name of religious liberty is without limitations. He must render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's as well as to God the things that are God's. He may not refuse to bear arms or pay taxes because of religious scruples, nor may he engage in polygamy or any other practice directly hurtful to the safety, morals, health or general welfare of the community."

It is also well settled that though one is not punished in these United States for his religious views and beliefs, yet one may be punished when through external conduct these views are put into practice, if such practice is fraught with clear and present danger to the safety, morals, health or general welfare of the community, and is violative of laws enacted for their protection. Even clearer is it that one is criminally responsible who does an act which is prohibited by a valid criminal statute, though the one who does this act may do it under a deep and sincere religious belief that the doing of the act was not only his right but also his duty. Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145, 25 L.Ed. 244; Gilbert v. State of Minnesota, 254 U.S. 325, 41 S.Ct. 125, 65 L.Ed. 287; United States v. Macintosh, 283 U.S. 605, 51 S.Ct. 570, 75 L.Ed. 1302; City of Manchester v. Leiby, 1 Cir., 117 F.2d 661; Rase v. United States, 6 Cir., 129 F.2d 204.

So the principle set forth in these cases negatives freedom of religion as a defense for Baxley to the crime with which he is charged. He may have been, as he claims, engaged in teaching and preaching the cardinal tenets of his religion, even in fulfilling, as he saw it, the mission imposed upon him by God. But, if, as and when, by that same token, he counselled and advised others to evade service or registration in the armed forces of the United States, he thereby violated the Selective Service Act, and the First Amendment affords him no protection. This seems to be one of those situations in which an attempt to employ religion as a sword prevents its use even as a shield. In City of Manchester v. Leiby, 1 Cir., 117 F.2d 661, 666, Circuit Judge Magruder said:

"The civil authority can never concede the extreme claim that police regulations of general application not directed against any sect or creed — however widely the regulations may be accepted as being reasonable and proper — are constitutionally inapplicable to persons who sincerely believe the observance of them to be `an insult to Almighty God.'"

(2) Knowledge as an Element of the Crime.

There is, of course, no force...