Feds Bust Local Resisters

Richard Sharvy, an assistant professor of philosophy at Wayne State University, has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for refusing induction into the U.S. Armed Forces.

Mr. Sharvy refused induction September 5 of last year after both his student deferment (he was working on a Ph.D. at the time.) and his application for conscientious objector status were denied.

Although he was not brought up as a Quaker, Mr. Sharvy attended Quaker meetings for about two years and told the Fifth Estate that he “didn’t believe in violence as a solution to any problem.”

He gave three reasons for refusing induction: that his moral and religious beliefs forbid him to participate in war in any form; that his draft board wrongly and arbitrarily denied him a classification as a conscientious objector, and denied him a student deferment; and that U.S. military operations in Viet Nam are immoral, illegal, and criminal.

Mr. Sharvy is being defended by Detroit attorney Ernest Goodman. He was arraigned on June 28 in Federal Court, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Mr. Sharvy and Robert Wertheimer, who was also indicted for refusing induction, were arraigned at ten o’clock June 28 in Federal Court in downtown Detroit.

About 50 sign-carrying members of the Ann Arbor Resistance, Detroit Resist, the Detroit Draft Resistance Committee, and Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Viet Nam, held a support demonstration and passed out leaflets outside the Federal Building while the arraignment was taking place.