October 30, 1918
Roger Baldwin, future director of the ACLU, was convicted of refusing to cooperate with the draft and sentenced to prison. His statement to the judge at the time of his sentencing was published as “The Individual and the State,” widely circulated: “The compelling motive for refusing to comply with the draft act is my uncompromising opposition to the principle of conscription of life by the State for any purpose whatever, in time of war or peace. I not only refuse to obey the present conscription law, but I would in future refuse to obey any similar statute which attempts to direct my choice of service and ideals. I regard the principle of conscription of life as a flat contradiction of all our cherished ideals of individual freedom, democratic liberty and Christian teaching. I am the more opposed to the present act, because it is for the purpose of conducting war.”
