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Gillam Kerley

Released
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1980s
State:Wisconsin
Time Imprisoned:
2 Years 4 Months 0 Days
Support
Anti-War Conscientious Objection
Gillam Kerley

Biography

Executive director of the Committee Against Registration and the Draft. Indicted Nov. 1982 by a grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin after publicly writing the SSS Director and General Counsel that he refused to register. Judge John C. Shabaz sentenced him to 3 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The Seventh Circuit overturned his sentence and then his conviction (753 F.2d 617 (1985); 838 F.2d 932 (1988)), and the case set the most favorable legal precedent against selective prosecution. Released after 4 months in custody.

Case

Charges: Failure to register
Arrested: Nov 14, 1982
Incarcerated: Nov 14, 1982
Released: Mar 14, 1985
Sentence: 3 years prison + $10,000 fine (vacated on appeal 1988) Charges as recorded: Failure to register for the draft — Military Selective Service Act § 3, 50 U.S.C. App. § 453 (1980s draft-registration resistance test cases)
Judge: Hon. John C. Shabaz
Convicted: Yes