United States v. Capehart

• Decision Date: 29 May 1956
• Docket Number: No. A-6710.,A-6710.
• Citation: United States v. Capehart, 141 F.Supp. 708 (N.D. W.Va. 1956)
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of West Virginia
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Jack Ronald CAPEHART.

141 F. Supp. 708

UNITED STATES of America v. Jack Ronald CAPEHART.

No. A-6710.

United States District Court N. D. West Virginia, Wheeling Division.

May 29, 1956.

John R. Morris, U. S. Atty., Clarksburg, W. Va., R. J. Schleuss, Asst. U. S. Atty., Fairmont, W. Va., for plaintiff.

Victor F. Schmidt, Columbus, Ohio, Horace S. Meldahl, Charleston, W. Va., for defendant.

BOREMAN, District Judge.

An indictment was returned by the grand jury for the Northern District of West Virginia on the 6th day of April, 1954, against the defendant, Jack Ronald Capehart. Count No. 1 was dismissed on motion of the defendant with consent of the United States Attorney. Count No. 2 of the indictment, with which we are concerned, charged that the defendant, having been classified by Local Board No. 2, Selective Service System, Cabell County, Huntington, West Virginia, as a conscientious objector and found fit for general service, did knowingly and wilfully fail, neglect and refuse to perform civilian work of national importance at Weston State Hospital, Weston, West Virginia, after having been notified to report for and perform such work by order dated the 19th day of August, 1953, in violation of Title 50, Appendix, Section 462(a), United States Code Annotated.

The defendant filed his motion to dismiss the indictment and discharge him on the ground that he had been deprived of a speedy trial to his prejudice, in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, Rules of Criminal Procedure 48(b), 18 U.S. C.A., Article 3, Section 14, of the Constitution of the State of West Virginia, and Chapter 62, Article 3, Section 21 (6210), of the Code of West Virginia. This case was called for trial on January 24, 1956, and the motion to dismiss was overruled since the defendant had made no affirmative request or demand for trial at any time between the finding of the indictment and the trial date. By consent and agreement, the case was tried before the Court in lieu of a jury.

Following the presentation of evidence, the defendant filed a written motion for judgment of acquittal, the grounds assigned in support of such motion being briefly outlined as follows:

(1) and (2) There was no evidence that defendant is guilty as charged, and the Government failed to prove a violation of the Act and the Regulations;

(3) The Local Board refused to classify the defendant as IV-D, contrary to the definition of a regular and duly ordained minister of religion, the denial of the ministerial classification being illegal, arbitrary and capricious because the Local Board employed artificial standards in determining what constitutes a minister of religion;

(4) The Local Board prevented the defendant from having a fair hearing when he appeared on October 29, 1951, because the Board repeatedly stopped the registrant, in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;

(5) The Local Board would not hear the registrant in his explanation of the law relative to the exemption of ministers, in violation of Section 1624.2 of the Regulations and in violation of "Procedural Due Process", as guaranteed by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States;

(6) The Local Board at the hearing on October 29, 1951, acted upon its own standard "as what constituted a minister as one who preached from the pulpit and earned his own living from the ministry", repeating the charge that the Local Board would not listen "to the correct statement of the law in the hands of the registrant", all in violation of Sections 1624.2 and 1622.43 of the Regulations;

(7) At the hearing on October 29, 1951, the Local Board asserted that it had not granted any of Jehovah's Witnesses a IV-D ministerial classification and it never intended to do so in the future, thus indicating prejudice and discrimination against the defendant, in violation of Section 1622.1(d) of the Regulations;

(8) The Local Board failed to post, conspicuously in its office, the names and addresses of advisors to registrants, in violation of Section 1604.41 of the "Rules of the Selective Service System".

Although no request was made, the Court has deemed it necessary, in fairness to the defendant, to fully recite the facts, the procedural steps taken, the claims made by the defendant, and the conclusions of law, all of which follow.

Defendant was registered with Local Board No. 2 at Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia. He was born on July 17, 1928, and on May 16, 1949, he being then twenty years of age, filed his classification questionnaire in which he stated that, by reason of religious training and belief, he was conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form; that he was a minister of religion; that he was regularly serving as a minister; that he had been a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses since August 24, 1940, having been formally ordained on that date. His questionnaire stated that he was then employed by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company as a stenographer-clerk, doing clerical, typing and shorthand work, having been so employed for three and one-half years; that he worked on an average of forty-four hours per week, earning $9.70 per day; that he did not expect to continue indefinitely at that job but expected to enter the full-time ministry. Under Series VIII, "Present Occupation", line 7, appears the following: "Other business or work in which I am now engaged is ministry".

With the classification questionnaire, defendant filed with the Local Board a paper bearing twenty-seven signatures, certifying as follows: "That we, the undersigned, witness the fact that Jack Ronald Capehart is an Ordained Minister of the Gospel and that he regularly and customarily preaches and teaches the word of God as set forth in the Bible". The defendant filed at the same time additional information in writing, from which is quoted the following: "I have been engaged in ministerial work since 1940. My ministry work consists of preaching and teaching the word of God as set forth in the Bible and doing so publicly and from house to house * * *. My ministry work also consists of making return calls on interested persons and holding home Bible studies with them if they so desire * * *. I also hold a special position in the Organization and give personal counsel relative to it and other matters pertaining to preaching the Gospel from the platform at our Company meetings. Also, I am enrolled in a ministry school in the organization, in which we make a thorough study of the different books of the Bible, as to who wrote them, the time of writing, etc. I average around 100 hours each month in the ministerial work. I am a Minister of the Gospel and participate in the ministerial work because it is the most important and joyous occupation one could be engaged in. I enjoy being a minister and do this work because I rejoice in helping others to become better acquainted with their Bible * * *. I am enclosing an identification card issued by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn 1, N. Y., identifying me as an Ordained Minister of the Gospel".

On May 23, 1949, defendant filed a special form claiming exemption as a conscientious objector, in which he stated that he became a member of Jehovah's Witnesses about 1935 at Huntington by attending Bible studies with his mother; that he had studied with other Jehovah's Witnesses at their local Kingdom Hall; that he had studied the Bible at home and proved facts for himself; that he had given constant public expression to his views "by ministering to the public from door to door in Huntington and vicinity". He further stated that he had worked since 1944, first, as a machinist apprentice for the C. & O. Railway Company at Huntington, West Virginia, next as an equipment installer for Western Electric Telephone Company and, from 1945 to the time of filing this special form, as a stenographer for the C. & O. Railway Company.

Under Series IV, question 2(d), the following appears in the printed form: "Give the name, title and present address of the pastor or leader of such church, congregation or meeting". The answer given was "Kenneth B. Reed — company servant of Huntington company of Jehovah's Witnesses". Attached to the special conscientious objector form was a separate sheet which contained the following typewritten paragraph: "The Selective Service National Headquarters has determined that Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society constitute a recognized religious organization, and that all of Jehovah's Witnesses who are regularly and customarily teaching and preaching the doctrines of the Bible as advocated by Jehovah's Witnesses are entitled to exemption as ministers of religion". This was followed by another statement: "I claim neutrality and the rights of neutrals because of my status as a minister".

On May 24, 1949, the Local Draft Board, by unanimous vote, classified the defendant as a conscientious objector, Class IV-E. On June 2, 1949, the Board was notified that registrant desired to appeal from the Board's classification and defendant's file was shortly thereafter forwarded to the Appeal Board. On September 17, 1949, the Appeal Board determined that defendant should not be classified in either I-A-O or IV-E, and the case was referred to the Department of Justice for investigation. The defendant appeared before a Hearing Officer of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on February 9, 1950, and was examined at length. The written report of the Hearing Officer discloses that the defendant was then employed by the C. & O. Railway Company at Huntington; that he became a member of the sect known as Jehovah's Witnesses in 1935, when he was about seven years old, and was brought up in its teachings by his mother; that, "as all of these people do, he claims to be a Minister of the Gospel and * * * in his examination before your Hearing Officer, he...