Selective Draft Law Cases

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}

{{Infobox SCOTUS case

|Litigants=Arver v. United States
Grahl v. United States
Wangerin v. United States
Wangerin v. United States
Kramer v. United States
Graubard v. United States

|ArgueDateA=December 13

|ArgueDateB=14

|ArgueYear=1917

|DecideDate=January 7

|DecideYear=1918

|FullName=Arver v. United States, {{ussc|245|366}}
Grahl v. United States
Wangerin v. United States
Wangerin v. United States
Goldman v. United States, {{ussc|245|474}}
Kramer v. United States, {{ussc|245|478}}
Ruthenburg v. United States, {{ussc|245|480}}
Graubard v. United States

|USVol=245

|USPage=366

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|Majority=White

|JoinMajority=unanimous

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|LawsApplied=Selective Service Act of 1917

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Arver v. United States, 245 U.S. 366 (1918), also known as the Selective Draft Law Cases, was a United States Supreme Court decision which upheld the Selective Service Act of 1917, and more generally, upheld conscription in the United States. The Supreme Court held that conscription did not violate the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition of involuntary servitude, or the First Amendment's protection of freedom of conscience.

The Solicitor General's argument, and the court's opinion, were based primarily on Kneedler v. Lane, which was actually multiple opinions of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War that upheld the Enrollment Act, and Vattel's The Law of Nations (1758).{{cite book | title= Conscription in the United States: Historical Background | oclc= 1727243 | last= Leach | first= Jack Franklin | year= 1952 | page= vi | publisher= C.E. Tuttle Pub. Co. | location= Rutland, Vt.}}{{cite journal | title= A Judicial Revisitation Finds Kneedler v. Lane Not So 'Amazing' | last= Delehant | first= John W. | journal= ABA Journal | date= December 1967 | volume= 53 | page= 1132 | authorlink= John Wayne Delehant | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rpOkMyVjGKQC&pg=PA1132}} The reliance on the Kneedler v. Lane decisions of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have been questioned on multiple occasions.{{cite journal | title= Conscription and the Constitution: The Amazing Case of Kneedler v. Lane | last= Bernstein | first= JL | journal= ABA Journal | date= August 1967 | volume= 53 | page= 708 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l_DGwM93-64C&pg=PA708}}

As reasoning for its decision, laws of the following governments of sovereign states were given as listed in The Statesman's Yearbook for 1917 as enforcing military service:

• Argentina{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=656}}
• Austria-Hungary{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=667}}
• Belgium{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=712}}
• Brazil{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=738}}
• Bulgaria{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=747}}
• Bolivia{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=728}}
• CanadaMilitary Service Act of August 27, 1917, expressly providing for service abroad. Printed in the Congressional Record of September 20, 1917, 55th Cong. Rec., p. 7959
• Colombia{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=790}}
• Chile{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=754}}
• China{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=770}}
• Denmark{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=811}}
• Ecuador{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=820}}
• El Salvador{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1270}}
• France{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=841}}{{lang|fr|La loi du 15 juillet 1889 sur le recrutement de l'armée}}, July 15, 1889 (Duvergier, vol. 89, p. 440), modified by act of March 21, 1905 (Duvergier, vol. 105, p. 133)
• Greece{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1001}}
• Germany{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=914}}Constitution, German Empire, April 16, 1871, Art. 57, 59{{lang|de|Gesetz, betreffend Aenderungen der Wehrpflicht, vom February 11, 1888}}, No. 1767, {{lang|de|Reichs-Gesetzblatt}}, p. 11, amended by law of July 22, 1913, No. 4264, {{lang|de|RGBl.}}, p. 593{{sfn|Dodd|1909|p=344}}
• Guatemala{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1009}}
• Honduras{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1018}}
• Italy{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1036}}
• Japan{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1064}}
• Mexico{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1090}}
• Montenegro{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1098}}
• Netherlands{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1191}}
• Nicaragua{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1142}}
• Norway{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1152}}
• Peru{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1191}}
• Portugal{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1201}}
• Romania{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1220}}
• Russia{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1240}}
• Serbia{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1281}}
• Siam{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1288}}
• Spain{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1300}}
• Switzerland{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1337}}
• Turkey{{sfn|Keltie|1917|p=1353}}