Selective Justice: The Draft, the Law, and the Vietnam War

FAIN: FT-291399-23

Megan Threlkeld
Denison University (Granville, OH 43023-1100)

Research and writing of a book examining the legal cases of men who refused induction into the military during the Vietnam war.

While many Americans have come to accept the complex history and legacy of the Vietnam War, narratives about the draft remain oversimplified, confined to images of draft “dodgers” maneuvering for deferments or protesting in the streets. Selective Justice forces readers to rethink what they know about the draft by shifting the story to the courtroom, where more than 8000 cases involving young men who refused induction into the army gave rise to rich debates among defense lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and Supreme Court justices that ranged far beyond the war itself. Legal battles over the draft forced everyone involved to confront questions at the heart of American life--about individual rights versus collective obligations, about equality and fairness, about the freedom to dissent and to follow one’s conscience, and about the power and limits of the law.