United States v. Estep

GOODRICH, Circuit Judge.

Defendant, Estep, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was indicted for failure to obey an order of his local board directing him to appear and be inducted into the United States Navy, 50 U.S.C.A. Appendix, § 311, and was found guilty. Estep had appeared at the induction center, after having been examined and found acceptable, and was told to “take one step forward”1 constituting his induction into the Navy. He refused, giving the officer in charge a letter in which he asserted that as “a regular or duly ordained minister of religion” he was entitled to exemption from training…