Word: sisson
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According to Thomas K. Sisson, assistant dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 23 graduate students had left by the end of the first semester supposedly for reasons directly related to the draft, although not necessarily because they had been drafted...
...ruling set aside the conviction of John Sisson Jr., a Harvard graduate who had never even applied for a C.O. classification because he is "not formally religious," and his objection to being drafted was solely related to the Viet Nam war. Drawing from sources as varied as Learned Hand and Alfred North Whitehead, Judge Wyzanski began his legal analysis with the broad contention that the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion means "that no statute can require combat service of a conscientious objector whose principles are either religious or akin thereto...
...absolute. "The most sincere religious believer may be validly punished even if in strict pursuance of his creed or principles, he fanatically assassinates an opponent or practices polygamy." In other words, an individual's religious freedom must be balanced against the competing interest of the state. In the Sisson case, the judge found the balance tipped by "the magnitude of Sisson's interest in not killing in the Viet Nam conflict as against the want of magnitude in the country's present need for him to be so employed." Said Wyzanski: "When the state through its laws...
...second, narrower issue was related to the First Amendment's ban on the establishment of religion. Wyzanski felt that the draft law is biased in favor of men who are religious. "Congress," he said, "unconstitutionally discriminated against atheists, agnostics and men like Sisson who, whether they be religious or not, are motivated by profound moral beliefs which constitute the central convictions of their beings." To critics who argue that the sincerity of such a personal code is too hard to ascertain, Wyzanski tartly replied, "Often it is harder to detect a fraudulent adherent to a religious creed than...
...year guarantee--leery of the idea of having tenured graduate students." As a possible alternative to that plan Elder suggested a more thorough investigation of income sources for grad students. Elder said that he would name a special five-member committee--to be chaired by Thomas K. Sisson, assistant and made up of two Faculty members-to study sources of income...