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I don't even know why we still have to have our young men signing up for it.
It's called "the law." It was passed back in 1777, when militias were put under the authority of the government.
The militia, by definition, are all MALE CITIZENS (17 to 45, sound body, etc).
The Supreme court ruled that militia duty is NOT involuntary servitude banned by the 13th amendment.
The "Selective Service" is exactly that - "selects" from the pool of obligated militiamen to perform their mandatory civic duty.
Oh, forgot to mention what part of "voluntary servitude" that was inherent in the militia duty.
Can you guess?
I'd never really thought about it until the recent story about women now being allowed in combat roles. Why the h**l don't 18-year old women have to register just the same as 18-year old men? If there is no discrimination within the military, why is there discrimination in the law? I would love to see the government sued over that. I'd say any female who doesn't support the idea and wants equal rights, is a complete hypocrite.
It would take a constitutional amendment to allow women to register.
Women Aren't Required to Register
Here's why:
THE LAW
Selective Service law as it's written now refers specifically to "male persons" in stating who must register and who would be drafted. For women to be required to register with Selective Service, Congress would have to amend the law.
THE SUPREME COURT
The constitutionality of excluding women was tested in the courts. A Supreme Court decision in 1981, Rostker v. Goldberg, held that registering only men did not violate the due process clause of the Constitution.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
At President Clinton's request, the Department of Defense reviewed this issue in 1994. DoD noted that America's prior drafts were used to supply adequate numbers of Army ground combat troops. Because women are excluded by policy from front line combat positions, excluding them from the draft process remains justifiable in DoD's view. Although no conclusions were reached, DoD recognized that policies regarding women need to be reviewed periodically because the role of women in the military continues to expand.
The Selective Service System, if given the mission and additional funding, is capable of registering and drafting women with its existing infrastructure.
Could you provide one example of feminists in the US or the politicians who pander to them asking for the responsibilities that should rightly accompany the special privileges they demand?
Don't believe the feminist slogans.
This has never been about equality.
This is an organized majority demanding special rights and preferential treatment under the law.
It has absolutely nothing to do with feminism or their slogans. It has to do with the equal protection component of the due process clause under the Fourteen Amendment. First of all, I do not believe the Secretary of Defense has the authority to determine who may serve in certain MOS' without direction from Congress. That is a power granted to Congress by the US Constitution under Article I, Section 8, Clause 14:
[Congress shall have the power] To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces
Congress specifically exempted women from combat MOS', and it is not up to the President, much less the Secretary of Defense to make decisions that are contrary to Congress' stated desires.
However, for the sake of argument, let us assume that the Secretary of Defense has the authority. Then it becomes an issue of constitutionality. All laws must be applied equally to everyone. If Panetta's decision is allowed to stand, then I predict within five years women will be required to register for the Selective Service.
Sounds like an oversite, As long as the boys are required, all should be. Now that women can be on the front lines this too should go to the wayside.
I guess no one wants to eliminate the registration process?
I just went to their website and sent this message -
For many years it has been a requirement that young men register, with the many changes in our military service it appears the time has come for the registration process to stop discriminating based on sex. Women are now on the front lines, it is time they register as young men have been required to.
As long as registration is required for some,it needs to be required for all. Times have changed, the selective service administration needs to reflect that change.
Could you provide one example of feminists in the US or the politicians who pander to them asking for the responsibilities that should rightly accompany the special privileges they demand?
Don't believe the feminist slogans.
This has never been about equality.
This is an organized majority demanding special rights and preferential treatment under the law.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glitch
It has absolutely nothing to do with feminism or their slogans. It has to do with the equal protection component of the due process clause under the Fourteen Amendment. First of all, I do not believe the Secretary of Defense has the authority to determine who may serve in certain MOS' without direction from Congress. That is a power granted to Congress by the US Constitution under Article I, Section 8, Clause 14:
[Congress shall have the power] To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces
Congress specifically exempted women from combat MOS', and it is not up to the President, much less the Secretary of Defense to make decisions that are contrary to Congress' stated desires.
However, for the sake of argument, let us assume that the Secretary of Defense has the authority. Then it becomes an issue of constitutionality. All laws must be applied equally to everyone. If Panetta's decision is allowed to stand, then I predict within five years women will be required to register for the Selective Service.
Like I said...
"Could you provide one example of feminists in the US or the politicians who pander to them asking for the responsibilities that should rightly accompany the special privileges they demand?"
If women don't want it, any politician who forces it on them will be defeated in the next election.
They should be drafted regardless of whether they can have combat roles. Because in taking up a support a role, they would free up a man to enter a combat role. There are 7 support soldiers to every 1 infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan. So regardless of whether women can serve in frontline ground combat units, women could still be drafted into support units and should have been from the beginning.
The Supreme Court decision allowing them not to be drafted was simply a "if you don't want to draft them, let's see if we can find a reason so you don't have to draft them". But the fact is that men who are drafted are not only assigned to infantry positions, so therefore the Supreme Court decision doesn't say you can't draft women, it only says you don't have to draft them. There's a big difference there.
I am reasonably certain it will happen. The Supreme Court in Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57 (1981), held in a 6-to-3 decision that gender distinction was not a violation of the equal protection component of the due process clause, and that the Act would stand as passed, exempting women from registering with Selective Service.
In the majority opinion, Justice William Rehnquist wrote:
"[t]he existence of the combat restrictions clearly indicates the basis for Congress' decision to exempt women from registration. The purpose of registration was to prepare for a draft of combat troops. Since women are excluded from combat, Congress concluded that they would not be needed in the event of a draft, and therefore decided not to register them."
Since those combat restrictions are no longer in place, I fully expect someone to challenge the constitutionality of the Selective Service Act once again. Regardless of what Congress decides, if women are to be allowed into combat MOS' then they will have to register with the Selective Service, just like every 18 year-old male.
Thanks. That's very informative. I agree with you. Women will (hopefully) have to register exactly like men do. I'm going to write my Congressmen and suggest they change the law. The Selective Service Act is completely unconstitutional.
There's no reason, work to change the law.
What's the issue.
The law was written before women had many rights.
Yes, blame to people affected by the law and not the lawmakers.
What have you done to change the law?
I'll bet the answer is not a darned thing.
It's so much easier to blame others than to fix something, isn't it?
Yes, it was so much better for women when they couldn't vote; when martial rape was within a man's rights; when women had (at best) very few options as a career: secretary, nurse, teacher, domestic support; when we were considered breeding machines (and the conservatives want to regress to that again); when women were chattal.
Since when do you get to decide my gender's roles.
There are countries that meet your criteria, they're mostly located in the middle east.
If you're so interested in reverting to this, might I suggest that you consider moving there.
The more conservatives want to regress, the more pathological our society becomes...
And the more liberals want to progress, the more pathological our society becomes as well. Drug abuse, poverty, violent crime, suicide, teenage pregnancy, unsustainable deficits, foreign entanglements, urban decay, falling test scores and school dropouts, trade deficits, etc are all the result of the nanny welfare state that liberals introduced and continue to expand, where personal responsibility and accountability is replaced with government bureaucracies and regulations.
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