On paper, it’s a crime to “knowingly fail or neglect or refuse” to register for the draft. The penalty is up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Last year, Selective Service referred 112,051 names and addresses of suspected violators to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.

Conscientious objectors usually refused to serve on religious grounds, such as being Jehovah’s Witnesses, and were placed in prison for the duration of their sentences.

However, there were a few men who refused to take part in any aspect of the war, refusing even to put on an army uniform. They were typically known as absolutists. These men were usually court marshalled, imprisoned and in a number of cases brutalised.

At what age can you no longer be drafted? Once you’re 26, you’re exempt from being drafted … “After someone is drafted, they can claim conscientious objector status, which is basically they say they have religious or moral convictions that do not allow them to serve in war,” Winkie says.

Regulations. This policy protects “only sons/daughters”, “the last son/daughter to carry the family name”, and “sole surviving sons/daughters” only during peacetime. The policy was changed to allow both enlisted and officers to apply for this discharge.

As of January 2016, there has been no decision to require females to register with Selective Service, or be subject to a future military draft. Selective Service continues to register only men, ages 18 through 25.

Can women register with the Selective Service System? No, not currently. Women have been allowed to serve in every role in the military, including ground combat, since 2016, but they don’t have to register with the Selective Service System.

What is Selective Service registration? Registration is a way our government keeps a list of names of men from which to draw in case of a national emergency requiring rapid expansion of our Armed Forces. By registering all young men, Selective Service ensures that a future draft will be fair and equitable.

You are exempt from Selective Service registration if you can prove you were continuously institutionalized or confined from 30 days before you turned 18 through age 25. If you were released for any period longer than 30 days during this window, you were required to register with the Selective Service System.

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Immigrants, even undocumented immigrants, living in the United States must register with Selective Service within 30 days after their 18th birthday. Immigrants that are in the country on a non-immigrant visa are not required to register with Selective Service.

Dece

To be honest only a fool would say that conscription in the United States would never happen again. However, it seems very unlikely. The draft (or US Military Conscription) ended in 1973 at the closing of the Vietnam War.

Here are 11 ways people beat the draft in the 1970s.

1. Be a Conscientious Objector.
2. Make up a health condition.
3. Have children who need you.
4. Be a homosexual.
5. Run away to Canada.
6. Go to college.
7. Have a high lottery number.
8. Hold an “essential” civilian job.