Supreme Court

Federal Judge Finds Male-Only Military Draft Unconstitutional

The draft itself ended during the final stages of the Vietnam War in 1973, but all American men ages 18 to 26 are still required to register with the Selective Service System so the military could move quickly if it ever needed to reinstate conscription

More than 45 years after the military draft ended, a federal judge has ruled that a law requiring men but not women to register for it is unconstitutional, NBC News reported.

In a ruling issued late Friday in Houston, U.S. District Judge Gray Miller denied the government's motion to stay a lawsuit originally brought by the National Coalition for Men, a nonprofit "men's rights" advocacy group, which is seeking an injunction ordering the Selective Service System to require women to register for the draft.

The draft itself ended during the final stages of the Vietnam War in 1973, but all American men ages 18 to 26 are still required to register with the Selective Service System so the military could move quickly if it ever needed to reinstate conscription.

Miller, who was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2006, noted that the Supreme Court upheld excluding women from the draft in 1981 because women were excluded from combat duty. Because that prohibition was lifted in 2015, he wrote, excluding them from registering for the draft made no constitutional sense.

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