[Michael McMillan (L) and Gillam Kerley ® at press conference in Madison, WI, following their indictments for refusing to register for the draft on 8 September 1982]
[Michael McMillan (L) and Gillam Kerley ® at press conference in Madison, WI, following their indictments for refusing to register for the draft on 8 September 1982]
While each of the prosecutions and show-trials of a handful selected public nonregistrants for the draft in the 1980s was politically significant, the case of the United States vs. Gillam Kerley set the most significant favorable legal precedent: the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals first overturned the sentence imposed by the trial judge in Federal District Court, and then on reconsideration overturned the guilty verdict as well and ordered a new trial.
(In a separate earlier pre-trial decision on appeal, reported at 753 F.2d. 617, 30 january 1985, the 7th Circuit upheld — notwithstanding the defendant’s Constitutional right to a public trial — the District Court’s prohibition on video recording of the trial. That issue was also raised, although an appeal was not pursued, in the case of Edward Hasbrouck.)
Gillam Kerley has extensive records from his and others of the legal cases of nonregistrants as well as records of the national Committee Against Registration and the Draft (CARD) in his personal archives in Albuquerque, NM, where he owns and manages Quirky Used Books and More.
Below are some of the key documents from Gillam Kerley’s appeal of his conviction and sentence:
This page published or republished here 9 December 2023; most recently modified 20 December 2023. This site is maintained by Edward Hasbrouck. Corrections, contributions (articles, graphics, photos, videos, links, etc.), and feedback are welcomed.