Supreme Court refuses to hear case claiming military draft is sexist against men

Congress to consider ending gender-based registration, Biden administration suggests

The US Supreme Court has declined to hear a lawsuit alleging that a male-only US military draft amounts to unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of sex.

The American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of two men and men’s rights organisation the National Coalition for Men, argued that a requirement that only men are eligible to register with the Selective Service System at age 18 is “one of the last sex-based classifications in federal law”.

Joe Biden’s administration asked the nation’s high court to table the issue as “Congress’s attention to the question may soon eliminate any need for the court to grapple with that constitutional question,” according to acting solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar.

The administration did not state Mr Biden’s opinion, nor did it defend the current system, which stipulates that only men ages 18 to 26 must register should there be a military draft in the US.

Justices appeared to suggest they could take up the case in the event that Congress does not amend the law.

“It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act,” wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing in an opinion joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh.

She added that the “role of women in the military has changed dramatically” since the Supreme Court upheld the male-only draft in 1981.

That ruling upheld now-outdated military policy that excluded women from combat roles. That policy was reversed in 2013 under then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

“Requiring only men to register for the draft reflects the outdated and sexist notion that women are less fit to serve in the military and that men are less able to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict,” said Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project.

“Such stereotypes demean both men and women,” she said in a statement. “We’re disappointed the Supreme Court allowed one of the last examples of overt sex discrimination in federal law to stand. We urge Congress to update the law either by requiring everyone to register for the draft, regardless of their gender, or by not requiring anyone to register.”