Shirer

ORDER GRANTING WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

Petitioner is presently serving in the United States Army, from which service he seeks discharge on the grounds that there was no basis in fact for the Army’s denial of his application for conscientious objector status, made under AR 635-20.

Petitioner was inducted in April, 1969. He was alerted for overseas assignment to the Republic of South Vietnam in early January, 1970. He applied for discharge as a conscientious objector in March, 1970. The chaplain found him sincere and religious; the 0-3 who interviewed him doubted his religiosity. The Conscientious Objector Review Board found that the lateness of petitioner’s application “cast serious doubt on the sincerity of his professed beliefs”. It is this finding which is before the Court.

*370 The government rests largely on the decision in Speer v. Hedrick, 9 Cir., 419 F.2d 804 (1969) which, it is asserted, stands for the proposition that the lateness of an application under AR 635-20 “may be an objective fact upon which to base a finding of insincerity”. See Bishop v. United States, 9 Cir., 412 F.2d 1064 (1969).

The timing of an application may certainly be relevant to sincerity, but this…