Guy James Morrison v. Lt. General Stanley R. Larsen

Guy James Morrison, serving in the United States Army, filed for discharge as a conscientious objector under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-20. His application was ultimately denied by the Conscientious Objector Review Board [CORB] and by the Adjutant General. Morrison filed a petition for writ of ha-beas corpus in the district court on the ground that the Army had wrongfully denied him discharge. The district court granted the writ and ordered Morrison’s discharge. We reverse and remand.

A. Factual Background.

The earliest manifestations of Morrison’s conscientious objector beliefs were during a personal appearance before his selective service board in April of 1968. At that time, Morrison was appearing personally to assert his right to a I-S [student] deferment. At this hearing, he offered the board a written statement of his “political and moral attitudes.” The contents of this proferred statement could certainly be considered an expression of conscientious objection to war. The board ruled, however, that it would not consider the statement because it was irrelevant to Morrison’s I-S deferment request. Morrison retained the statement and made no further attempt to…