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Landmark Supreme Court Case Study

Submitted By
Words 677
Pages 3
Demi Doty
Mrs. Malone
U.S. Government
7 September 2017
Rostker v. Goldberg The Landmark Supreme Court Case Rostker versus Goldberg received national attention after Robert L. Goldberg questioned whether it was constitutional for the federal government to require only males to register with the Military Selective Service Act (MSSA). The respondent in this case was Bernard D. Roster, Director of the Selective Service System (Oyez). The MSSA requires all males ages 18 to 26 to register with the Selective Service. One may ask, how did the question of women registering for the draft garner such widespread attention and why? When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980 President Carter reactivated the draft process. Carter recommended that …show more content…
Class action is defined as, “ A legal proceeding in which persons representing interests common to a large group participate as representatives of the group or class” (Dictionary.com). In 1980 a District court found that MSSA was unconstitutional. Deciding against requiring women to register for the draft was a controversial ordeal. Congress did not just decide this based on personal opinion, or on the “traditional way of thinking about women” (LII). Since women are not included in combat positions, they are not seen as equal in the draft process. The case was initially based on equity, but with Congress’ power they chose to focus on military need, rather than equity. A mere three days before registration for the draft was set to begin, the District Court issued a judgement stating that the Act infringed the Fifth Amendment. “The court emphasized that it was not determing whether or to what proportions women should assist in combat, but only the issue of registration.” (LII). Another issue Congressed faced was the fact of having only authorized enough funds to cover males registering for the draft, not females as well. On March 24, 1981 the United States Supreme Court heard this case. On June 25, 1981, the Supreme Court announced it’s ruling in a 6-to-3 decision that the Constitution permits Congress to limit draft registration to males …show more content…
Women were not required to register for the draft before, and they are still not required to do so today. I personally agree with the outcome of this case, primarily because it ensures that I will never be drafted into war. I know that war is something that I both physically and emotionally could not handle. However, I do believe that it is unfair that men are still required to register while women do not have to. Although the court ruled it constitutional, I disagree. If the United States is going to require one gender to register then they should require the other to as well, all or

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