Full name: Cassius Marsellus Clay, Jr., also known as Muhammad Ali, Petitioner, v. United States
Hugo BlackHarry BlackmunWilliam J. Brennan, Jr.Warren E. BurgerWilliam O. DouglasJohn Marshall Harlan IIPotter StewartByron WhiteThurgood Marshall Note: Court justices do not represent any political party. The color of each judge's name represents the political party of the president who appointed the judge.
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Summary
Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali (legal name Cassius Clay) had been convicted of refusing to be inducted into the military during the Vietnam war. He claimed status as a conscientious objector to war.
An appeals court ruled that Ali met two of the three conditions for conscientious objector status. It gave no reason to deny the third.
"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," the court ruled.
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