Falbo v. United States

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Falbo v. United States

Argued Nov. 19, 1943.
Decided Jan. 3, 1944

Full case name:	Falbo v. United States

Citations:	320 U.S. 549

Holding

Court membership

Chief Justice: Harlan Fiske Stone
Associate Justices: Owen Josephus Roberts, Hugo Black, Stanley Forman Reed, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Frank Murphy, Robert H. Jackson, Wiley Blount Rutledge

Case opinions

Majority by: Black
Dissent by: Murphy

Falbo v. United States, 320 U.S. 549 (1944),^[1] was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a draft board's alleged error in classifying a Jehovah's Witness as a conscientious objector rather than a minister of religion is no defense to the board's order to report for national service; post-reporting review of the classification is sufficient due process.

1 Facts of the case
2 Introduction
3 Prior history
4 Decision of the Court
- 4.1 Dissenting opinions
5 Effects of the decision
6 Critical response
7 Subsequent history
8 References
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] Facts of the case

The petitioner was indicted on November 12, 1942, in a federal District Court in Pennsylvania for knowingly failing to perform a duty required of him under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. The particular charge was that, after his local board had classified him as a conscientious objector, he wilfully failed to obey the board's order to report for assignment to work of national importance. Admitting that his refusal to obey the order was wilful, petitioner defended his conduct on the ground that he was entitled to a statutory exemption from all forms of national service, since the facts he had presented to the board showed that he was a 'regular or duly ordained' minister.