By : The National Coalition for Men can proceed with its class action lawsuit challenging the government’s men-only mandate for registering for the military draft, a federal judge ruled on Friday.Although the U.S. military is now an all-volunteer force, to stay prepared for a major war the Military Select Service Act requires men age 18 to 25 to register with the Select Service System.
The government held its last draft, for the Vietnam War, in 1973.
All men, including undocumented immigrants, who do not register and keep their contact information current can be sentenced to five years in prison, fined up to $250,000 and be disqualified from federal financial aid and citizenship, though no man has been prosecuted for failing to register since the 1980s.
The National Coalition for Men, represented by Marc Angelucci in Los Angeles, sued the Select Service System in April 2013, claiming the male-only draft registration rule is unconstitutional gender discrimination. The Pentagon in January 2013 lifted a ban on women serving in front-line combat positions.
The coalition seeks an injunction ordering the government to make both men and women register for the draft.
As of February there were 213,851 women in the military, about 16 percent of the 1.3 million total members, according to the Department of Defense.






