ABC News:
The Supreme Court says it won’t take up a case that asked it to decide whether it’s sex discrimination for the government to require only men to register for the draft when they turn 18
The Supreme Court on Monday said it won’t take up a case that asked it to decide whether it’s sex discrimination for the government to require only men to register for the draft when they turn 18.
In a statement, three justices said Congress is weighing whether to change the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men but not women to register for the draft. They said that was a reason for the court not to take the case.
“It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Act. But at least for now, 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,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a statement for herself, Justice Stephen Breyer and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The question of whether it’s unconstitutional to require men but not women to register could be viewed as one with little practical impact. The last time there was a draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since. But the registration requirement is one of the few remaining places where federal law treats men and women differently, and women’s groups are among those arguing that allowing it to stand is harmful.
Ria Tabacco Mar, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project, who had urged the court to take up the issue, said that requiring men to register imposes a “serious burden on men that’s not being imposed on women.”
