The Greatest: Muhammad Ali

This is the 1971 Supreme Court case that ultimately ruled on Muhammad Ali’s effort to secure an exemption from conscription into the US Army. Still named Cassius Clay in the eyes of the law, Ali declared that he was a conscientious objector, opposed to military service on the grounds that it violated his Muslim beliefs (Islam is not pacifistic but does impose strict limits on what constitutes a just versus an unjust war). The local draft board rejected his claim, which the US Department of Justice initially upheld on the grounds that Ali’s objections were based on an objection to the Vietnam War in particular and not a fundamental moral conviction against war in general. Once the case reached the Supreme Court on appeal, the justices decided that this was an arbitrary distinction since various religions include the possibility of making a distinction between the justness of one war and the unjustness of another. Ali had already been allowed to return to the ring when the case was decided (including his unsuccessful attempt to reclaim the championship from Joe Frazier), but the case was no less important for both freeing him from potential legal consequences and validating the justness of his cause.