Selective Draft Law Cases

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 upheld that conscription did not violate the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition of involuntary servitude, or the First Amendment's protection of freedom of conscience.

Arver v. United States Grahl v. United States Wangerin v. United States Wangerin v. United States Kramer v. United States Graubard v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 13–14, 1917 Decided January 7, 1918
Full case name	Arver v. United States, 245 U.S. 366 Grahl v. United States Wangerin v. United States Wangerin v. United States Goldman v. United States, 245 U.S. 474 Kramer v. United States, 245 U.S. 478 Ruthenburg v. United States, 245 U.S. 480 Graubard v. United States
Citations	245 U.S. 366 (more)
Court membership
Chief Justice Edward D. White Associate Justices Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes Jr. William R. Day · Willis Van Devanter Mahlon Pitney · James C. McReynolds Louis Brandeis · John H. Clarke
Case opinion
Majority	White, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
Selective Service Act of 1917

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).[1][2] The reliance on the Kneedler v. Lane decisions of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have been questioned on multiple occasions.[2][3]

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[4]
• Austria-Hungary[5]
• Belgium[6]
• Brazil[7]
• Bulgaria[8]
• Bolivia[9]
• Canada[10]
• Colombia[11]
• Chile[12]
• China[13]
• Denmark[14]
• Ecuador[15]
• El Salvador[16]
• France[17][18]
• Greece[19]
• Germany[20][21][22][23]
• Guatemala[24]
• Honduras[25]
• Italy[26]
• Japan[27]
• Mexico[28]
• Montenegro[29]
• Netherlands[30]
• Nicaragua[31]
• Norway[32]
• Peru[30]
• Portugal[33]
• Romania[34]
• Russia[35]
• Serbia[36]
• Siam[37]
• Spain[38]
• Switzerland[39]
• Turkey[40]