From Draft NOtices, July-September 2021
Supreme Court Hands off Draft Registration Issue to Congress
— Rick Jahnkow
On June 7, the Supreme Court announced that it would not consider an appeal in a case challenging the constitutionality of male-only draft registration. Very little was said by members of the Court, but Justice Sotomayor wrote the following statement, co-signed by Justices Breyer and Kavanaugh:
"It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act. But at least for now, the Court’s longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue."
The court’s inaction now leaves it up to Congress to decide whether to expand the registration requirement to include females, discontinue it entirely, or allow male-only registration to continue.
Congress is now focusing on the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which recommends funding levels and sets policies for spending by the Department of Defense during the next fiscal year.
The NDAA often incorporates amendments to implement new “defense” related laws. Last year, an amendment that would have expanded draft registration to include women was proposed and, then, withdrawn.
This year, an amendment may again be considered to expand draft registration to women. Amendments to the NDAA will be considered by a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on July 28, and by the full HASC on September 1. The NDAA version adopted by the full committee will go to the full House, at which point more amendments could theoretically be considered.
Back in May, 2021, the HASC heard in-person testimony from advocates of a proposal to expand registration to women. Opponents were not invited to the hearing, but a written statement was presented from Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). DeFazio has introduced legislation (H.R. 2509 and S. 1139) to repeal the Military Selective Service Act, end registration, and end sanctions that punish individuals for failing to register. Co-sponsors of the repeal bills are bi-partisan in both the House and Senate.
Anti-draft groups are urging people to find out if their Congressional Representatives are on the HASC and, if so, urge them to oppose expanding registration to women and, instead, support the Selective Service repeal bill (H.R. 2509). Visit https://armedservices.house.gov/meet-our-members.
Recent organizing developments include the creation by college students of an anti-draft group (feministsagainstthedraft) on the TikTok social media platform. The CODEPINK organization is also mobilizing its members to lobby in favor of completely ending draft registration. Letters and tweets can be sent to members of Congress at https://www.codepink.org/nodraft2021.
For more information, contact email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or visit resisters.info.
This article is from Draft NOtices, the newsletter of the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (http://www.comdsd.org/index.php/draft-notices).
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