Judge rules women are not exempt from draft registration

Daily News Article   —   Posted on March 4, 2019

(Compiled from CNN Wire and UPI) – US District Court Judge Gray Miller ruled late Friday, Feb. 22, that the Military Selective Service Act’s male-only registration is unconstitutional.

The challenge was brought by a men’s rights advocacy group known as National Coalition for Men and two men subject to the registration requirements. The organization is seeking an injunction that orders the Selective Service System to require that registration for the draft be extended to include women.

Miller noted that the Supreme Court, in 1981, excluded women from the draft because they were ineligible for combat duty. Since they are now eligible, and since a draft is typically required when combat positions need to be filled, excluding women from draft registration is incorrect.

“Women’s opportunities in the military have expanded dramatically,” Miller wrote in his 19-page decision. “In 2013 the Department of Defense officially lifted the ban on women in combat. In 2015 the Department of Defense lifted all gender-based restrictions on military service. Thus, women are now eligible for all military service roles, including combat positions.

“In short,” he concluded, “while historical restrictions on women in the military may have justified past discrimination, men and women are now ‘similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft.’ … If there ever was a time to discuss ‘the place of women in the Armed Services, that time has passed.’ … Defendants have not carried the burden of showing that the male-only registration requirement continues to be substantially related to Congress’s objective of raising and supporting armies.”

Miller did not issue an injunction against the federal policy.

A National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service has been studying issue.

Although the draft ended in 1973, all U.S. men between ages 18 and 26 must still register with the Selective Service System so that if military conscription became warranted, it could quickly begin.

(Note:  District Judge Gray Miller was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006 for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.)

Compiled from articles by CNN Wire at Chicago’s WGN9 and by Ed Adamczyk at UPI on Feb. 25. Reprinted here for educational purposes only.