Peckat v. Lutz

• Decision Date: 15 November 1971
• Docket Number: No. 71-1132.,71-1132.
• Parties: William A. PECKAT, Appellee, v. Captain James LUTZ et al., Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

451 F.2d 366 (1971)

William A. PECKAT, Appellee, v. Captain James LUTZ et al., Appellants.

No. 71-1132.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued August 27, 1971.

Decided November 15, 1971.

Leonard M. Linton, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty. (George Beall, U. S. Atty. on brief), for appellants.

Luther C. West, Baltimore, Md., for appellee.

Before SOBELOFF, Senior Circuit Judge, and WINTER and RUSSELL, Circuit Judges.

SOBELOFF, Senior Circuit Judge:

The Government brings this appeal from the District Court's order granting habeas corpus to William A. Peckat, an enlisted serviceman who sought the writ after the Army denied his request for a discharge as a conscientious objector. The District Court held that Peckat had made out a prima facie case for a conscientious objector discharge, and that the Army, in rejecting his claim as insincere, had not met its burden of proof, for it gave no reasons for its conclusion. We agree with the District Court and affirm its order.

I

In seeking a discharge, Specialist Fourth Class Peckat's first obligation was to establish a prima facie case of conscientious objection. In March, 1970, in his application for discharge, Peckat stated the core of his religious philosophy as follows:

Jesus directed us to LOVE our neighbor as we would ourselves and to love God with all our mind, soul and body. Therefore, love for our neighbor cannot be shown if we intend to kill him, and we cannot love God if we do not love our neighbor. Members of the Armed Forces are trained to kill without pity. My very presence in the Army is in conflict with the teachings of Jesus. * * * Jesus did not kill anyone and He did not advocate killing. * * * As a Christian, therefore, I am not willing to take part in any activity which is directed towards killing.

Peckat's deep feelings about participation in the military allegedly crystallized after he went through basic training. He attained these views by way of "self examination and personal Bible study."¹ He stated that the catalyst in the development of his beliefs was his basic training in the Army, particularly his training in weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and the Army's movies and stories about Vietnam. He testified at his administrative hearing, "I find it impossible to point a weapon and pull the trigger."

In support of his own statement, Peckat submitted four sworn letters, including one from his minister, declaring that the writers knew him to be honest and sincere in his beliefs. Three other persons testified at the administrative hearing to the sincerity of his opposition to participation in military activity.

The only possible weakness in Peckat's case was the timing of the claimed crystallization of his conscientious objection. At the time of his application for discharge, Peckat, stationed at Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland, had served for nearly 11/2 years. Just prior to his application, he complained of "homesickness" to an Army psychiatrist, and requested a transfer so that he might be closer to his parents' home in Texas. This request was denied. The Judge below commented that he was not entirely convinced that Peckat was in fact sincere in his claim and acknowledged that the near concurrence of "homesickness" and the application for a conscientious objector discharge was a ground for suspicion. But the Judge held that this coincidence alone was not sufficient to dispel the affirmative evidence of sincerity which he found in the record. We agree. A feeling of homesickness is not inconsistent with the development of a sincere objection to participation in killing. Cf. United States ex rel. Brooks v. Clifford, 409 F.2d 700, 707 (4th Cir. 1969); Cohen v. Laird, 315 F.Supp. 1265, 1277 (D.S.C.1970); Ross v. McLaughlin, 308 F.Supp. 1019, 1024 (E.D.Va.1970).

The District Court was correct in holding that, by the facts he adduced, Peckat had made out a prima facie case for discharge as a conscientious objector. See United States v. Burlich, 257 F.Supp. 906, 911 (S.D.N.Y.1966). The burden was thereby cast upon the Army to show, by affirmative evidence, that he did not sincerely hold his professed beliefs. Dickinson v. United States, 346 U.S. 389, 74 S.Ct. 152, 98 L.Ed. 132 (1953). The officers passing on his claim must reach any conclusion of insincerity not by speculation or hunch but by a rational process. Bates v. Commander, 1st Coast Guard District, 413 F.2d 475, 478 (1st Cir. 1969); United States ex rel. Confield v. Tillson, 312 F. Supp. 831, 834 (D.Ga.1970); Ross v. McLaughlin, 308 F.Supp. 1019, 1023 (E.D. Va.1970). If the decision that a claimant is insincere is to be "rational," the evidence buttressing an officer's conclusion must be established in the record and cited as supporting his determination. As noted by the Second Circuit:

To sustain the denial of a claim on a mere ipse dixit of lack of sincerity from * * * the hearing officer would create serious possibilities of abuse.

United States v. Corliss, 280 F.2d 808, 814 (1960); accord United States v. Hesse, 417 F.2d 141, 143 (8th Cir. 1969). Accordingly, our circuit has held in a case arising out of a refusal by a draft board to classify a registrant as a conscientious objector:

Where it is clear that a prima facie case was established, we conclude that in conscientious objector cases, it is essential to the validity of an order to report that the board state its basis of decision and the reasons therefore, i. e., whether it has found the registrant incredible, or insincere, or of bad faith, and why. (Emphasis added.)

United States v. Broyles, 423 F.2d 1299, 1304 (4th Cir. 1970); accord United States v. James, 417 F.2d 826 (4th Cir. 1969). This insistence upon explicitness is binding on the Army no less than on the Selective Service Administration. See Hammond v. Lenfest, 398 F.2d 705, 716 (2d Cir. 1968).

The articulation of reasons for a conclusion, which the decided cases demand, is not to be found in the Army's treatment of Peckat's application. His request for discharge traveled through several levels of administrative review, yet in making an adverse determination, no officer attempted to explain how he reached his conclusion by pointing to any evidence of insincerity. The mere assertion of disbelief in the claimant's sincerity, no matter how persistently that assertion is repeated, is not enough to overcome his prima facie case.

The Government now attempts to rehabilitate the decisions of these officers by constructing for each of them, from the evidence in the case, a reasoned opinion finding Peckat insincere. But the Government misconceives the law in endeavoring to show at this late date that an opinion could have been written presenting a rational explanation for the officers' disbelief in Peckat's sincerity. The rule requiring that the officers themselves declare the reasons underlying their conclusions is designed to insure that they are not in fact deciding the case on some unlawful or arbitrary basis, for example a mistaken view of what the law calls for in the way of religious beliefs. As Judge Winter said in United States v. Broyles:

Effective review requires an explicit finding of insincerity if that is to be the sole basis for rejection of the conscientious objection claim. The James decision rested on the concept that "where the local board\'s conclusion * * * may be explainable on alternate grounds, both legally acceptable and unacceptable, the risk is too great that we would place an imprimatur on an unsupportable basis of decision."

423 F.2d at 1303.

The instant case well illustrates the possible abuse if we were to accept the Government's approach. The Hearing Officer included in her findings of fact deprecating comments about the strength of Peckat's religious beliefs. She wrote:

SP4 Peckat does not appear to be well read in religion, Philosophy or other matters. * * * He did not know that his Church had adopted a statement on conscientious objection until two months after he submitted his application. * * * Additionally, the frequency of his attendance, usually twice a month, at a Church of no particular

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