National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System

National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System
Court	United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Full case name	National Coalition for Men, et al. v. Selective Service System, et al.
Decided	February 22, 2019 (2019-02-22)
Docket nos.	4:16-cv-03362
Defendants	Selective Service System; Donald Benton, as Director of Selective Service System
Counsel for plaintiffs	Marc Angelucci
Plaintiffs	National Coalition for Men; James Lesmeister, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated; Anthony Davis
Holding
Requiring only men to register for the draft violated their Fifth Amendment right.
Court membership
Judge sitting	Gray H. Miller
Case opinions
Transcript

National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System
Court	United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Full case name	National Coalition for Men, et al. v. Selective Service System, et al.
Decided	August 13, 2020
Docket nos.	19-20272
Holding
The district court's judgment is reversed because it directly contradicts the Supreme Court’s holding in Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57, 78–79 (1981), and only the Supreme Court may revise its precedent.
Court membership
Judges sitting	Jacques L. Wiener Jr., Carl E. Stewart, and Don Willett
Case opinions
Opinion
Per curiam

National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System was a court case that was first decided in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on February 22, 2019, declaring that requiring men but disallowing women to register for the draft for military service in the United States was unconstitutional. The ruling did not specify which actions the government needed to take to resolve the conflict with the constitution (e.g., whether to abolish the draft registration requirement or apply it in a gender-neutral manner).^[1] That ruling was reversed by the Fifth Circuit.

In June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision by the Court of Appeals.^[2] In an opinion on supporting the denial, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh, stated that while there was a constitutional argument about discrimination on sex on the current draft, they agreed to decline because Congress was actively evaluating removing the male-only requirement of the draft through the 2016 Commission, and that "the Court's longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue".^[3]

Following Congress's failure to act, in May 2024 the NCFM again sued the Selective Service system on the basis that the Supreme Court's ruling was not conclusive, this time in the United States District Court for the Central District of California with Judge André Birotte Jr. presiding.^[4]