Posted on 06/09/2016 10:17:15 AM PDT by Elderberry
You’ve probably heard that in 1971 the Supreme Court reversed Muhammad Ali’s conviction for refusing to be inducted into the Selective Service. But why did it do so? What was the legal issue on which the case turned? And what, if anything, did the criminal case have to do with Ali losing his championship and being precluded from fighting for more than three years?
Here’s a brief summary of the legal machinations. I am deeply indebted to former Georgetown Law professor Tom Krattenmaker, one of Justice John Marshall Harlan’s clerks in the October Term 1970, from whom I learned some of the information below about the Court’s internal deliberations in the Clay case. The remainder of this post is derived from the public record and from the memos available in the Blackmun and Brennan papers.
“I shook up the world!”
On February 25, 1964, just nine days after the Beatles’ second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Cassius Clay, Olympic gold medalist at the 1960 Games in Rome, won the world heavyweight boxing title by upsetting Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. Clay was twenty-two years old. Two days later, Clay announced that he was a member of the Nation of Islam, a group with which he had been worshipping since 1962. The following week, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad announced that Clay would be renamed Muhammad Ali.
Ali’s conscientious objection claim: The twists and turns of the administrative process
In February 1966, the Selective Service informed Ali that he was, for the first time, eligible for military service. Ali then applied for a conscientious objector exemption, asserting that he was a pacifist who was religiously opposed to fighting in war. His local draft board rejected the claim, and he appealed to the Kentucky State Appeal Board.
(Excerpt) Read more at scotusblog.com ...
Harlan’s draft opinion included a fascinating, extended exegesis on the teachings of the Nation of Islam. According to those teachings, Harlan wrote, in the beginning all people were black, but the white race was later created at the instigation of an evil deity named Yakub, and was given 6000 years – a period that ended in 1914 – to rule the other races. The day of judgment of the ruling white race was expected to occur in the mid-1960s, and would consist of a battle of Armageddon, a physical war not between the races, but between Allah and the white race – a struggle in which Muslims would not participate physically – ending in Allah’s destruction of the white race and the establishment of earthly paradise for Muslims.
First time I've heard of that.
conscientious objection .................................. Not an issue when it come to beating an opponents brains in?
First time I’ve heard of that. ................. Is that like saying there are only two kinds of people in the world, those who are German and those who are not?
I remember George Carlin commenting on that “I don’t mind beating them up but killing them, that’s where I draw the line”. But seriously, an Islamic pacifist? What an oxymoron.
Cowardice. Plain and simple
Just an hour ago, the featured speaker at Ali’s Jehosaphat Shahadahdah or whatever went after whitey (not mentioning Yakub’s direct name, of course) for a solid 15 minutes. Pure, undistilled NOI bs. If they crank that up tomorrow at the big show, wow, it’ll be Wellstone gone mau mau...
He didn’t actually claim to be a pacifist. He claimed that his religion forbade him from killing unless Elijah Mohammed (then leader of the Nation of Islam) ordered him to.
[t]here was ample evidence tending to show that [Ali] would not object to fighting with real weapons in a defensive war on behalf of Muslims. It was, therefore, not unreasonable for the Selective Service System to conclude that his was not a general scruple against participation in war, but rather a refusal to fight in wars on the side of white persons.
Not so hard to understand, is it?
Just think
If Cassius Clay was a Mormon like Romney he would have got away with dodging the draft..
too bad he didn’t convert from Christianity to Mormonism instead of Islam...
or getting yours repeatedly beat out in the so called sport.
Yet 0bama has ordered flags to half staff tomorrow, in his honor.
About 10 or more years ago, I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. In the sections in which he described joining the Nation of Islam, he went into great deal about the racial BS that the NOI believes. This was after Malcolm had parted ways with them. He was actually apologetic to admit having believed such crap.
At one point, Malcolm gives the impression that Ali (he called him Muhammad Clay in the book) had second thoughts about the NOI and Elijah Muhammad, but that he (Ali) feared speaking up about it. Considering that Malcolm was assassinated by NOI members, I don't blame him.
I’m guessing there weren’t very many black Mormons in the 1960s.
On Ali’s part? Do you really think he would have seen a moment of combat? No way.
Maybe he didn’t believe in fighting wars started by Democrats.
Take note over his life he supported many Republicans, including Reagan.
The Supreme Court. THEY were the cowards.
No it was 1978 and at the urging of Jimmy Carter that the Mormon god(s) changed its mind and decided blacks could be members...
the Mormons punished Carter in 1980 by voting for the man they hated more, Ronald Reagan...
LOL
Our flags in Louisville have been at half staff since last Saturday. Ironic that he’s being honored with the flag he refused to serve under.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.