ABSTRACT
Welsh v. United States, 398 US 333, was a landmark ruling of the US Supreme Court that upheld the right of an individual to receive conscientious-objector status to military service under federal law, even though his objection to service in the armed forces did not stem from orthodox or traditional religious sources. The key question for Hugo L. Black, which he answered affirmatively, was whether Welsh's beliefs occupied the same or equivalent role of religion and functioned as a religion in his life. Byron R. White accused the Court of making draft exemption policy and concluded that Welsh, under the plain meaning of the statute, had no First Amendment right to avoid military service. The Court managed to avoid dealing with the two religion clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution while finding a right to claim status as a conscientious objector on grounds beyond the parameters of traditional religion.
