Richard Walter Burton v. United States

Classified I-O by his local board of the Selective Service System, Appellant was ordered to report to the Los Angeles County Department of Charities, Los Angeles, California, for civilian work. He appeared at the designated place of employment but refused all work offered. Prosecution and conviction for violation of the Universal Military Training and Service Act followed.

Appellant is employed as an animal keeper by the Los Angeles County Zoo. Defense witnesses testified without contradiction to his skill in this employment and the public importance of the work. Throughout the preliminary proceedings required by the regulations which culminated in the order to report for civilian work, Appellant offered his present employment as animal keeper as the type of civilian work he was willing to do and obdurately refused to consider or accept any other types of employment offered by the local board or state director. These acceptable employments are set forth in a list approved by the state director.

Appellant contends that the local board abdicated its statutory responsibility to consider and approve or disapprove work which the registrant offered to perform in lieu of induction into…

(dissenting):

I respectfully dissent. Our courts are all too often presented with appeals by Selective Service registrants who have failed to cooperate with the Selective Service boards in their difficult task and who have, in many cases, refused to pursue their administrative remedies. Here, in direct contrast, we have a registrant who has cooperated with his local board and who has attempted in every available manner to obtain consideration of his request, made pursuant to the Selective Service Regulations. His local board has consistently refused to undertake the simple consideration of his request, and, as I see it, that constitutes an abdication of the duty imposed by the controlling Regulations.

On February 3, 1966, Burton was classified I-A (available for military service) by the local board. He then requested a personal appearance before the board in order to reassert his previously claimed status as a conscientious objector. This personal appearance, which occurred on April 7, 1966, resulted in Burton’s reclassification to class 1-0 (conscientious objector available for civilian work contributing to the maintenance of the national health, safety, or interest). During…

402 F.2d 536 Richard Walter BURTON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. No. 22260. United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. October 7, 1968. Rehearing Denied November 13, 1968. Certiorari Denied February 24, 1969. 1 See 89 S.Ct. 877 . 2 J. B. Tietz (argued), Los Angeles, Cal., for appellant. 3 Dennis Kinnaird (argued), Asst. U. S. Atty., William Matthew Bryne, Jr., U. S. Atty., Robert L. Brosio, Asst. U. S. Atty., Chief, Crim. Div., Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee. 4 Before: BARNES and ELY, Circuit Judges, and THOMPSON, * District Judge. THOMPSON, District Judge: 5 Classified I-O by his local board of the Selective Service System, Appellant was ordered to report to the Los Angeles County Department of Charities, Los Angeles, California, for civilian work. He appeared at the designated place of employment but refused all work offered. Prosecution and conviction for violation of the Universal Military Training and Service Act followed. 6 Appellant is employed as an animal keeper by the Los Angeles County Zoo. Defense witnesses testified without contradiction to his skill in this employment and the public importance of the work. Throughout the preliminary…