Elgin v. U.S. Department of the Treasury

BOUDIN, Circuit Judge.

A federal statute bars employment in the Executive Branch of citizens and resident aliens who were required to register for the draft with the Selective Service System and who “knowingly and willfully” did not do so before age twenty-six. In the district court, four plaintiffs, who are male United States citizens over age twenty-six, sought to challenge this statutory bar on constitutional grounds, failed on the merits, and now appeal.

The statutory bar reads as follows:

An individual—(1) who was born after December 31, 1959, and is or was required to register under…