Vern George Davidson v. United States

Davidson was charged and convicted of the offense of knowingly refusing to submit to induction under the Universal Military Training and Service Act. He now claims that he was denied his rights to procedural due process because on the second “appeal” of his case to the appeal board no hearing was conducted by the Department of Justice as required in the cases of appeals by registrants professing conscientious objection to military training and service.

An examination of Davidson’s file reveals the following:

In his classification questionnaire filed with his local board in Los Angeles County, California, he qualified his claim of conscientious objection to war with the following statement:

In the special form for conscientious objector, Davidson did not sign his name in the appropriate place for claiming exemption, but instead made a notation “Statement attached,” and in answer to the question whether he believed in a Supreme Being, his answer was “No.” Also, in answer to the question as to whether he was a member of a religious sect or organization, his answer was in the negative. Thereafter, by unanimous vote, he was classified I-A, and notice of the classification was mailed…