Taffs v. United States, 14791.

• Decision Date: 15 March 1954
• Docket Number: No. 14791.,14791.
• Parties: TAFFS v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

208 F.2d 329 (1954)

TAFFS v. UNITED STATES.

No. 14791.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

December 7, 1953.

Writ of Certiorari Denied March 15, 1954.

Hayden C. Covington, Brooklyn, N. Y. (Gustav A. Larson, St. Paul, Minn., on the brief), for appellant.

Clifford Janes, Asst. U. S. Atty., Redwood Falls, Minn. (George E. MacKinnon, U. S. Atty., St. Paul, Minn., on the brief), for appellee.

Before GARDNER, Chief Judge, and WOODROUGH and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.

Writ of Certiorari Denied March 15, 1954. See 74 S.Ct. 532.

WOODROUGH, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Siegfried Ranulf Taffs was indicted and tried under Title 50 U.S. C.A.Appendix, § 462, for failure to submit to induction into the armed forces of the United States. A jury was waived by stipulation of the parties. Upon trial to the court, Taffs was found guilty as charged and sentenced to imprisonment, whereupon he prosecuted this appeal.

Appellant, a member of the Jehovah Witnesses religious sect, claimed before his local draft board that he was entitled to a I-O selective service classification as a conscientious objector under Section 6(j), Universal Military Training and Service Act, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 456 (j). This section provides:

"Nothing contained in this title shall be construed to require any person to be subject to combatant training and service in the armed forces of the United States who, by reason of religious training and belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form. Religious training and belief in this connection means an individual\'s belief in a relation to a Supreme Being involving duties superior to those arising from any human relation, but does not include essentially political, sociological, or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code."

The ruling of the local draft board, which accepted an advisory opinion of the Assistant Attorney General in denying appellant's claim for conscientious objector status, is based upon two grounds: (1) Appellant's testimony that he would use force in defense of his life, property, or fellow Jehovah Witnesses, and (2) his testimony that he was not a pacifist but believed in and approved of certain wars, that is, theocratic wars. The decision of the trial court finding appellant guilty was also based upon these two grounds.

The issue before the court is narrowly defined. Congress has provided that the action taken by the local selective service board in the classification of registrants is final except for administrative review. Title 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 460(b) (3). The Supreme Court of the United States has construed the word "final", as used in this section, to mean "that the courts are not to weigh the evidence to determine whether the classification made by the local boards was justified. The decisions of the local boards made in conformity with the regulations are final even though they may be erroneous. The question of jurisdiction of the local board is reached only if there is no basis in fact for the classification which it gave the registrant." Estep v. U. S., 327 U.S. 114, 66 S.Ct. 423, 427, 90 L.Ed. 567. It is in the light of this ruling that we examine the record.

There is no dispute in the facts presented on hearings before the various administrative tribunals and the court below. During World War II, appellant was classified IV-F in the draft and upon re-registering in 1948, sought deferment either as a student or as IV-F. At that time he made no claim as a conscientious objector. He was given a I-A-P (student) classification until June 1, 1949, at which time he was placed in I-A in the draft. In September, 1949, appellant married and was subsequently placed in a deferred status III-A because of such marriage. On August 25, 1951, appellant was advised that he had been reclassified I-A. Thereupon he filed claim for deferment as a conscientious objector. Appellant's local draft board forwarded his draft file to the state appeal board which rejected his claim as a conscientious objector and upheld the I-A classification. The case was then forwarded to the Department of Justice where, after a thorough and complete investigation, it was recommended that appellant's claim as a conscientious objector be upheld. Appellant then appeared before a Hearing Officer of the Department of Justice and presented his claim for deferred status as a conscientious objector. The Hearing Officer found that appellant was a bona fide member of the Jehovah Witnesses religious sect, sincere in his beliefs, and opposed to service in the armed forces because of such beliefs. The Hearing Officer therefore recommended that appellant be classified as a conscientious objector. However, the Assistant Attorney General, in reviewing appellant's file which contained the proceedings and testimony before the Hearing Officer, noted that appell...