Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 62 Part 1.djvu/643

 62 STAT.] 80TH CONG. , 2D SESS.-CH. 625 -JUNE 24, 1948 Religious training and belief in this connection means an individual's belief in a relation to a Supreme Being involving duties superior to those arising from any human relation, but does not include essentially political, sociological, or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code. Any person claiming exemption from combatant training and service because of such conscientious objections whose claim is sustained by the local board shall, if he is inducted into the armed forces under this title, be assigned to noncombatant service as defined by the President, or shall, if he is found to be conscientiously opposed to participation in such noncombatant service, be deferred. Any person claiming exemption from combatant training and service because of such conscientious objections shall, if such claim is not sustained by the local board, be entitled to an appeal to the appropriate appeal board. Upon the filing of such appeal, the appeal board shall refer any such claim to the Department of Justice for inquiry and hearing. The Department of Justice, after appropriate inquiry, shall hold a hearing with respect to the character and good faith of the objections of the person concerned, and such person shall be notified of the time and place of such hearing. The Department of Justice shall, after such hearing, if the objections are found to be sustained, recommend to the appeal board that (1) if the objector is inducted into the armed forces under this title, he shall be assigned to non- combatant service as defined by the President, or (2) if the objector is found to be conscientiously opposed to participation in such noncom- batant service, he shall be deferred. If after such hearing the Depart- ment of Justice finds that his objections are not sustained, it shall recommend to the appeal board that such objections be not sustained. The appeal board shall, in making its decision, give consideration to, but shall not be bound to follow, the recommendation of the Depart- ment of Justice together with the record on appeal from the local board. Each person whose claim for exemption from combatant training and service because of conscientious objections is sustained shall be listed by the local board on a register of conscientious objectors. (k) No exception from registration, or exemption or deferment from training and service, under this title, shall continue after the cause therefor ceases to exist. (1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one shall be discharged from service in the armed forces of the United States while this title is in effect because such person entered such service without the consent of his parent or guardian. (m) No person shall be relieved from training and service under this title by reason of conviction of a criminal offense, except where the offense of which he has been convicted may be punished by death, or by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. (n) In the case of any registrant whose principal place of employ- ment is located outside the appeal board area in which the local board having jurisdiction over the registrant is located, any occupational deferment made under subsection (h) of this section may, within five days after such deferment is made, be submitted for review and deci- sion to the appeal board having jurisdiction over the area in which is located the principal place of employment of the registrant. Such decision of the appeal board shall be final unless modified or changed by the President, and such decision shall be made public. (o) Where one or more sons or daughters of a family were killed in action or died in line of duty while serving in the armed forces of the United States, or subsequently died as a result of injuries received or disease incurred during such service, the sole surviving son of such family shall not be inducted for service under the terms of this title. 613 Assignment. Appeal. Hearing. Recommendations. Register of conscien- tious objectors. Minority dis- charges. Conviction of a criminal offense. Review of certain occupational defer- ments. Sole surviving son, exemption.

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