Draft Card Violators
50 who burned or tore them up and
a few who simply returned them

http:// www.agu.ac.jp / ~vicks62 / jeffreyb / resist3.html

        Only 50 men were ever indicted for burning or ripping up their draft cards (13 Circuits and 94 Districts). Here are the names of 19 (+seven more, perhaps) of them and four other men indicted for non-possession. Who were the other thirty-one (or so)? (Not included are two cases of illegal possession of and/or use of another person's draft card.)

date Defendant-Appellant Circuit Registration
Certificate		 Notice of
Classification
1965
Oct 15		David J. Miller
one count		 2nd Circuit
S. New York		 destruction
1965
Oct 20		Stephen L. Smith
two counts		 8th Circuit
S. Iowa		mutilation and
destruction
non-possession
(dismissed)		 
1965
Nov 6		Thomas C. Cornell
two counts		 2nd Circuit
S. New York		mutilation and
destruction		mutilation and
destruction
1965
Nov 6		Marc P. Edelman
one count		 2nd Circuit
S. New York		mutilation and
destruction		 
see United States v. Len Chandler, 380 F. 2d 993
1965
Nov 6		Roy Lisker
one count		 2nd Circuit
S. New York		mutilation and
destruction		 
1965
Nov 6		Jim WilsonS. New York   
1966
n.d.		Harold Hector and
Gary Graham Hicks		    
1966
Mar 24		Peter N. Kiger
one count		 2nd Circuit
S. New York		 mutilation and
destruction
1966
Mar 31		David P. O'Brien
one count		 Supreme Ct
1st Circuit
Mass.		mutilation and
destruction		 
1966
Mar 31		John Phillips,
David Reed, and
David Benson		    
1966
Apr
June		Robert
Talmanson		    
1966
Dec 14		Bruce D. Dancis
one count		 2nd Circuit
N. New York		mutilation
1967
Apr 15		Vincent F.
McGee, Jr.
+three counts (1)		 Supreme Ct
2nd Circuit
S. New York		destruction
(dismissed)
 		 destruction
(dismissed)
non-possession
1967
Apr 15		Gary Rader    
1967
Aug 18		John R. Peet
+ one count (2)		 9th Circuit
N. California		 destruction
1967
Oct 16		Mendel L.
Cooper
two counts		 10th Circuit
Colorado		mutilation
non-possession
(dismissed)		 
1967
Dec 4		David M.
Rehfield
two counts		 9th Circuit
Arizona		 destruction
non-possession
n.d. (3)Bradley M.
Littlefield
two counts		 9th Circuit
Arizona		 destruction
non-possession
n.d. (4)Michael J. Billingsley
two counts		 3rd Circuit
Delaware		destruction
non-possession
n.d.Burton S. Marks
one count (2)		 9th Circuit
N. California		burning
(reversed)
n.d.William R. Williams
+ one count (5)		 9th Circuit
E. California		 non-possession
1968
Aug 30		Michael B. Weissman
one count		 8th Circuit
E. Missouri		mutilation and
destruction		(no charge)
1969
Feb 13		Larry K. Zink
two counts		 8th Circuit
Nebraska		destructiondestruction
Dec '67
Nov '68
May '69		Jeffrey S. Falk
+ three counts (6)
(reversed and
remanded)		 7th Circuit
N. Illinois		non-possession (7)
  
 		  
non-possession (7)
non-possession (7)
1970
Apr 15		Lawrence
Demangone
one count		 3rd Circuit
W. Pennsylvania		 non-possession
1971
Nov 2		R. Jeffrey Blair
two counts		 9th Circuit
Hawaii		destruction
(reversed)		destruction
(reversed)
1971
Dec 13		William C.
Eppinette, Jr.
two counts		 4th Circuit
E. No. Carolina		non-possession
(reversed)		 non-possession
(reversed)
Notes

(1) Vincent McGee was charged with six counts. Two counts for destruction were dismissed, possibly for lack of witnesses. He mailed his charred cards to President Johnson. He received concurrent two-year sentences for non-possession, failure to submit information, failure to report for a physical, and refusal to submit to induction.

(2) John R. Peet was also charged with failure to report for induction. He was sentenced to six years under the Youth Corrections Act.

(3) Littlefield and Rehfield seem to have acted together on Dec. 4, 1967.

(4) Michael Billingsley seems to have burned both his Registration Certificate and Notice of Classification in late December 1967 or early January 1968. Which card he was indicted for remains a question for further research.

(5) Williams was also charged with and convicted of two other counts: (I) failure to report for induction and (II) failure to keep his local board advised of his current address.

(6) Falk was also charged with one count of refusing to submit to induction, but the judge granted a post-trial motion for acquittal on that count. He received three one-year consecutive sentences for the three counts of non-possession.
(7) The convictions were originally affirmed (2-1), later reversed and remanded (5-3) for further hearings.

First Circuit (Boston)
District of Massachusetts: David O'Brien conviction affirmed
Rhode Island
New Hampshire
Maine

Second Circuit (New York City)
Southern District of New York: David J. Miller conviction affirmed,
Thomas C. Cornell conviction affirmed, Marc P. Edelman conviction affirmed,
Roy Lisker conviction affirmed, Peter N. Kiger conviction affirmed, and
Vincent F. McGee conviction affirmed
Northern District of New York: Bruce Dancis conviction affirmed
New York (E. W.)
Connecticut
Vermont

Third Circuit (Philadelphia)
Western District of Pennsylvania: Lawrence Demangone conviction affirmed
Pennsylvania (Middle and E.)
Delaware: Michael J. Billingsley
New Jersey

Fourth Circuit (Richmond, VA)
Virginia (W. E.)
Eastern District of North Carolina: William C. Eppinette, Jr. conviction reversed
North Carolina (W. and Middle)
West Virginia (N. S.)
South Carolina

Fifth Circuit (New Orleans)
Louisiana (W. Middle E.)
Texas (N. S. E. W.)
Mississippi (N. S.)

Sixth Circuit (Cincinnati, OH)
Ohio (N. S.)
Michigan (West East)
Kentucky (W. E.)
Tennessee (W. Middle E.)

Seventh Circuit (Chicago)
Northern District of Illinois: Jeffrey S. Falk conviction reversed and remanded
Illinois (Central S.)
Wisconsin (W. E.)
Indiana (N. S.)

Eighth Circuit (St. Louis, MO)
Eastern District of Missouri: Michael Weissman conviction affirmed
Missouri (W.)
Southern District of Iowa: Stephen Smith conviction affirmed
Northern District of Iowa
Nebraska: Larry K. Zink conviction affirmed
Arkansas (W. E.)
North Dakota
South Dakota
Minnesota

Ninth Circuit (San Francisco)
Northern District of California: John R. Peet conviction affirmed and
Burton S. Marks conviction reversed
Eastern District of California: William R. Williams conviction affirmed
California (Central S.)
District of Arizona: David M. Rehfield conviction affirmed and
Bradlely M. Littlefield conviction affirmed
District of Hawaii: R. Jeffrey Blair conviction reversed
Washington (W. E.)
Oregon
Montana
Idaho
Nevada
Alaska
Guam
Northern Marana Islands

Tenth Circuit (Denver)
District of Colorado: Mendel L. Cooper conviction affirmed
Oklahoma (W. N. E.)
Kansas
Wyoming
Utah
New Mexico

Eleventh Circuit (Atlanta)
Alabama (N. Middle S.)
Georgia (N. Middle S.)
Florida (N. Middle S.)

DC Circuit (Wash., D.C.)

Federal Circuit (Wash., D.C.)

Last updated March 2025
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