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1971

Supreme Court reverses Muhammad Ali's conviction

In Clay v. United States the Court unanimously (8–0) overturns Ali's draft-refusal conviction on narrow procedural grounds.

The government had given no valid reason for denying his conscientious-objector claim and conceded his beliefs were sincere and religiously grounded. The ruling set no broad new doctrine.

Source

Clay v. United States, 403 U.S. 698 (1971)