In 1981, the Supreme Court ruled in Rostker v Goldberg that registering only men, and not women, under the Military Selective Service Act did not violate the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. According to Justice Rehnquist, the reason for this was that women were excluded by law from combat positions.
"The reason women are exempt from registration is not because military needs can be met by drafting men. This is not a case of Congress arbitrarily choosing to burden one of two similarly situated groups, such as would be the case with an all-black or all-white, or an all-Catholic or all-Lutheran, or an all-Republican or all-Democratic registration. Men and women, because of the combat restrictions on women, are simply not similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft.
Congress' decision to authorize the registration of only men, therefore, does not violate the Due Process Clause."
As you may know, last year the Department of Defense announced that it was beginning the process of opening all combat positions to women, to be completed "no later" than January 2016.
My question is whether, once this process is completed, and all combat positions are open to women, the courts are likely to find that the MSSA, as currently written, does now violate the due process clause?
I'm interested in this because I would like to see the Selective Service System abolished, and that would be one of the two options that Congress would be left with if the MSSA in it's current form was ruled unconstitutional.
"The reason women are exempt from registration is not because military needs can be met by drafting men. This is not a case of Congress arbitrarily choosing to burden one of two similarly situated groups, such as would be the case with an all-black or all-white, or an all-Catholic or all-Lutheran, or an all-Republican or all-Democratic registration. Men and women, because of the combat restrictions on women, are simply not similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft.
Congress' decision to authorize the registration of only men, therefore, does not violate the Due Process Clause."
As you may know, last year the Department of Defense announced that it was beginning the process of opening all combat positions to women, to be completed "no later" than January 2016.
My question is whether, once this process is completed, and all combat positions are open to women, the courts are likely to find that the MSSA, as currently written, does now violate the due process clause?
I'm interested in this because I would like to see the Selective Service System abolished, and that would be one of the two options that Congress would be left with if the MSSA in it's current form was ruled unconstitutional.