Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

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From Draft NOtices, January-March 2021

Likelihood of Legislation to Expand Draft Registration to Women

— Rick Jahnkow

Based on developments in the courts and the political views expressed by President-elect Biden and many members of his leadership circle, there is a strong possibility that draft registration could be adopted for women and imposed on them as early as 2022. Some members of Congress have promised to introduce the necessary legislation in 2021, and Joe Biden has indicated he favors it.

At a minimum, the Selective Service System is already showing signs of waging new informational campaigns to boost male draft registration compliance (prosecution as a method of compelling compliance proved ineffective and was abandoned in the 1980s). The informational campaigns could be a sign that SSS anticipates a surge in the non-compliance numbers if women are ordered to register.

It is possible that in 2021, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) will reintroduce his earlier bill to repeal the Selective Service law and shut down registration, but his effort to do so in 2020 garnered little support or attention in Congress.

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From Draft NOtices, October-December 2020

A New Legal Development Allows Draft Registration to Continue

— Rick Jahnkow

In 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that male-only draft registration did not constitute gender discrimination because, at that time, women were excluded from military combat roles. In February 2020, a federal district court judge in Texas ruled that because women were no longer excluded from combat, the system of draft registration that only had consequences for males had become a form of unconstitutional gender discrimination. That judge’s ruling was subsequently appealed by the government to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

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From Draft NOtices, October-December 2020

Institutional Betrayal and Moral Courage: The Case of Armando Perez, Jr.

— Isidro Ortiz, Ph.D.

Sexual assault in the U.S. military is usually associated with female soldiers such as the late Private First Class Vanessa Guillen who, according to reports, was sexually harassed and killed by a fellow soldier while stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. However, male soldiers are also victims of sexual assault. A 2016 survey found that approximately 0.6 percent of active-duty men had experienced sexual assault in the previous year. Although some may dismiss the numbers as being insignificant, compared to sexual assaults of female soldiers, the numbers constitute part of what Congresswoman Veronica Escobar refers to as an “epidemic of unchecked sexual harassment and sexual assault” in the armed forces. The case of Armando Perez, Jr., offers insights into the institutional betrayal of male soldiers and the harm inflicted on those subjected to sexual assault.

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Ninth CIRCUIT COURT RULING: CONFRONTING MILITARISM BY USING EQUAL ACCESS TO HIGH SCHOOLS

When the military comes to your local high school, you have a legal right to give students an opposing view. This has been the position taken by federal district courts in Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois and two federal appellate courts. The most broadly-worded decision came from a case that COMD took to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1980s. Here is the background:

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