On June 28, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned boxer Muhammad Ali’s conviction for draft evasion on the grounds that the prosecutors failed to specify why Ali’s application to be classified a conscientious objector was denied.

Ali, born Cassius Clay, was sentenced to five years in prison on June 20, 1967, when he refused to serve in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. As a member of the Nation of Islam, Ali based his objection to participate in the war on his newfound religious and political beliefs.

Ali appealed his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court which found, in a unanimous decision, that he met all of the criteria necessary for conscientious objector status: He opposed war in any form, his beliefs were based on religious teaching and his objection was sincere.
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