Conscience and the Courts

Selected Supreme Court and other cases which define conscientious objection to participation in war

by Marian Franz (2006)

“ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof... ”

Table of Contents

[pdf version]

• Introduction
• United States v. Schwimmer:
  • Should pacifist belief hinder an immigrant from U.S. citizenship?
• United States v. Macintosh:
  • Should citizenship be allowed for a person who pledges only to fight wars the individual considers moral?
• Hamilton v. Regents of the University of California:
  • May a state force its public college students to participate in Reserve Officers Training Corps program?
• Girouard v. United States:
  • Should citizenship be denied to a person who cannot pledge to bear arms?
• A. J. Muste v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue:
  • Is open failure to pay taxes fraudulent if the failure is based upon principle?
• Sherbert v. Verner:
  • May a state deny unemployment benefits to a person who voluntarily quits her job for religious reasons, while granting those benefits generally to those who quit for “compelling reasons” ?
• United States v. Seeger:
  • Does one have to claim belief in a Supreme Being to be classified under the Selective Service Act as a conscientious objector to participation in war?
• Welsh v. United States:
  • Can qualifying conscientious objection be purely ethical and moral?
• Gillette v. United States:
  • Can one selectively object to some wars and not others and still qualify for draft exemption or military discharge as a conscientious objector?
• Lemon et al. v. Kurtzman:
  • Do certain state statutes which make state financial aid available to church-related educational institutions violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause?
• Wisconsin v. Yoder:
  • Is a state's interest in compulsory education balanced by the right to free exercise of religion?
• United States v. American Friends Service Committee:
  • Must a religious employer withhold taxes from employees who ask that they not be withheld for reasons of conscience against participation in war?
• Fifth Amendment Cases:
  • Can the IRS compel defendants to produce records and answer questions in court regarding their financial records?
• Thomas v. Review of Indiana Employment Security Division:
  • Can one be denied unemployment compensation for refusing to manufacture weapons?
• United States v. Lee:
  • Must an Amish employer of Amish employees withhold social security taxes that violate Amish religious belief?
• Legislation -- TEFRA Act of 1982:
  • Congress exacts additional penalty for “war tax deductions for taxes going to the Defense Department”
• Legislation -- TAMRA Act of 1988:
  • Congress grants a provision which the Supreme Court had denied.
• Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith:
  • Under the Free Exercise Clause, are employees fired for sacramental drug use entitled to unemployment benefits?
• United States v. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends:
  • Must a religious corporation enforce levies against its employees who conscientiously object to paying war taxes?
• Legislation -- Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA):
  • Congress restores the compelling government interest/ least restrictive means tests that the Supreme Court denied in Smith.
• Three cases appealed to Supreme Court based on RFRA:
  • These cases, filed by Quaker conscientious objectors to military taxes, were appealed to the Supreme court under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993.
• City of Boerne v. Flores:
  • The Court declares RFRA to be unconstitutional at state and local levels, but not at the federal level.
• Legislation -- Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act:
  • Congress provides stronger protection for religious freedom in the land-use by religions and for institutionalized persons.
• Cutter v. Wilkinson:
  • Does a federal law which prohibits government from burdening prisoners' religious exercise violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause?
• Postscript -- Prisoners of Conscience:
  • Conscientious objectors receive prison sentences because they cannot violate their beliefs by paying for war.
• Concluding Remarks
• Quotes
• Appendix: Bill of Rights
• About the Author

Published in 2006 by the Peace Tax Foundation, Inc. 2121 Decatur Place NW, Washington, DC 20008

www.peacetaxfund.org 1-888-732-2382 used with permission