Fein v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 7 of Yonkers

405 U.S. 365 · Decided March 21, 1972 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Fein v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 7 of Yonkers was decided on March 21, 1972 by a vote of 4–3. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Conscientious objectors” in the First Amendment area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: Lewis F. Powell Jr., William H. Rehnquist.

Full case caption

Fein v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 7 of Yonkers, New York, et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1971-076, docket 1971-076-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Conscientious objectors”

• Parisi v. Davidson
  405 U.S. 34Decided February 23, 19727–0Potter Stewart
• Clay v. United States
  403 U.S. 698Decided June 28, 19718–0Per curiam
• McGee v. United States
  402 U.S. 479Decided May 17, 19718–1Thurgood Marshall
• Ehlert v. United States
  402 U.S. 99Decided April 21, 19716–3Potter Stewart
• Gillette v. United States
  401 U.S. 437Decided March 8, 19718–1Thurgood Marshall
• United States v. Weller
  401 U.S. 254Decided February 24, 19718–1Potter Stewart

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Cases on the same legal provision: Selective Service statutes

• Astrup v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
  402 U.S. 509Decided May 24, 19719–0Hugo L. Black
• Toussie v. United States
  397 U.S. 112Decided March 2, 19705–3Hugo L. Black
• Kolden v. Selective Service Local Board No. 4
  397 U.S. 47Decided February 24, 19708–0Per curiam
• Breen v. Selective Service Local Board No. 16
  396 U.S. 460Decided January 26, 19708–0Hugo L. Black
• Gutknecht v. United States
  396 U.S. 295Decided January 19, 19708–0William O. Douglas
• McKart v. United States
  395 U.S. 185Decided May 26, 19698–0Thurgood Marshall

Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• Parisi v. Davidson
  405 U.S. 34Decided February 23, 19727–0Potter Stewart
• Rabe v. Washington
  405 U.S. 313Decided March 20, 19729–0Per curiam
• Cruz v. Beto
  405 U.S. 319Decided March 20, 19728–1Per curiam
• Gooding v. WilsonLaw held unconstitutional
  405 U.S. 518Decided March 23, 19725–2William J. Brennan Jr.
• Cole v. Richardson
  405 U.S. 676Decided April 18, 19724–3Warren E. Burger
• Wisconsin v. YoderLaw held unconstitutional
  406 U.S. 205Decided May 15, 19727–0Warren E. Burger

See all

Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error