Drafted and Shafted: Who Should Complain About Male-Only Registration?

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell law professor comments on a recent opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit holding that requiring men but not women to register for the draft is constitutional under mandatory U.S. Supreme Court precedents. Specifically, Colb considers what the U.S. Supreme Court should do if it agrees to hear the case and more narrowly, whether the motives of the plaintiffs in that case bear on how the case should come out.

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Smith v. Franklin Township Community School Corp.

Docket: 20S-CT-98

Opinion Date: August 25, 2020

Judge: Loretta H. Rush

Areas of Law: Personal Injury

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying Appellant's motion requesting reinstatement of his lawsuit against Franklin Township Community School Corporation, holding that the court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Appellant's motion for reinstatement. Nine days before the applicable statute of limitations expired, Appellant filed a negligence lawsuit against the School. The court dismissed the complaint after Appellant failed to respond to the School's motion to dismiss. Months later, Appellant filed three documents requesting reinstatement of his case. The trial court summarily denied the motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant's request was in actuality an impermissible collateral attack on the trial court's dismissal order, and therefore, the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Appellant's motion.