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nitpicker

(7,153 posts) Wed Apr 3, 2019, 06:17 AM Apr 2019

(xpost) For a million U.S. men, failing to register for the draft has serious, long-term consequence

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/02/failing-register-draft-women-court-consequences-men/3205425002/

For a million U.S. men, failing to register for the draft has serious, long-term consequences

Gregory Korte, USA TODAYPublished 11:36 a.m. ET April 2, 2019 | Updated 4:40 p.m. ET April 2, 2019

For 39 years, it's been a rite of passage for American men. Within 30 days of his 18th birthday, every male citizen and legal resident is required to register for Selective Service, either by filling out a postcard-size form or going online.

What's less well known is what happens on a man's 26th birthday. Men who fail to register for the draft by then can no longer do so – forever closing the door to government benefits like student aid, a government job or even U.S. citizenship.

Men under 26 can get those benefits by taking advantage of what has effectively become an eight-year grace period, signing up for Selective Service on the spot. After that, an appeal can be costly and time-consuming. Selective Service statistics suggest that more than 1 million men have been denied some government benefit because they weren't registered for the draft.

With the current male-only draft requirement declared unconstitutional, Congress will have to decide whether to eliminate Selective Service registration or expand it to women.
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(xpost) For a million U.S. men, failing to register for the draft has serious, long-term consequence (Original Post) nitpicker Apr 2019 OP

I didn't realize, or remember. It's very quixotic and unfair Hortensis Apr 2019 #1

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)

1. I didn't realize, or remember. It's very quixotic and unfair

Reply to nitpicker (Original post)

Wed Apr 3, 2019, 06:23 AM

Apr 2019

in application, isn't it? Most registrations are "passive," occurring while applying for something, so those who don't apply don't get that impetus, and none get counseling about what's involved. When applying for a driver's license is a common time to register, but a quarter (?!) of men don't have licenses.

Like the Vietnam War draft that helped fuel the social upheaval of the 1960s and '70s, today's draft registration requirement puts a disproportionate burden on lower-class Americans. They're more likely to put off college until later in life – and to need student aid when they do go to school.

As for applying only to men, outrageous. I absolutely supported the Equal Rights Amendment, only I called it the Equal Rights and Responsibilities Amendment.

We should eliminate the draft in any case, and make this retroactive because it unjustly burdens men only. If we ever genuinely need a draft in future, it could be reinstituted almost overnight. This is the information age. We're all in the system. The next draft would likely be a notice to appear or apply for exemption, a separate preregistration procedure as obsolete as it is for voting.

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