| Clay v. United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued April 19, 1971 Decided June 28, 1971 | |
| Full case name | Cassius Marsellus Clay, Jr. [sic] also known as Muhammad Ali v. United States |
| Citations | 403 U.S. 698 (more) 91 S. Ct. 2068; 29 L. Ed. 2d 810 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Conviction affirmed, 397 F.2d 901 (5th Cir. 1968); remanded sub. nom., Giordano v. United States, 394 U.S. 310 (1969); conviction affirmed again, 430 F.2d 165 (5th Cir. 1970). |
| Holding | |
| Since the Appeal Board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to petitioner, and it is impossible to determine on which of the three grounds offered in the Justice Department's letter that board relied, petitioner's conviction must be reversed. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Per curiam | |
| Concurrence | Douglas |
| Concurrence | Harlan (in result) |
| Marshall took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Clay v. United States, 403 U.S. 698 (1971), was Muhammad Ali's [Footnote 1] appeal of his conviction in 1967 for refusing to report for induction into the United States military forces during the Vietnam War. His local draft board had rejected his application for conscientious objector classification. In a unanimous 8–0 ruling (Thurgood Marshall recused himself due to his previous involvement in the case as a U.S. Department of Justice official), the United States Supreme Court reversed the conviction that had been upheld by the Fifth Circuit.
The Supreme Court found the government had failed to properly specify why Ali's application had been denied, thereby requiring the conviction to be overturned: "the court said the record shows that [Ali's] beliefs are founded on tenets of the Muslim religion as he understands them."[1][2][3]
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- ^ Clay v. United States, 403 U.S. 698, 703 (1971).
- ^ "Court clears Ali of charge". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. June 28, 1971. p. 1.
- ^ "Ali's draft-evasion conviction overturned". Palm Beach Post. June 29, 1971. p. A1.