Amnesty Resolution

Whereas the war in Southeast Asia has brought pain and derision to the American public, and

Whereas resistance has taken different forms many of which did not incur legal punishment, and

Whereas according to the American Civil Liberties Union figures 7,400 have been convicted for selective service, but have not been brought to court, 39,000 have been referred by the selective service to the Dept. of Justice for investigation, 32,000 are military deserters at large, 450,000 Vietnam era veterans have less than honorable discharges, unknown thousands have never registered for the draft and are in violation of selective service regulations, thousands of civilians have been prosecuted for their protest of the war in Southeast Asia,

Whereas due to the deferment structure certain socio-economic groups have the privilege of avoiding personal confrontation with the draft, and

Whereas as we approach the countries bicentennial, we wish to return to the historic precedent of amnesty as a method of ameliorating national crisis, therefore be it

Resolved that we the assembled members of the LSM National Conference, support a general, unconditional amnesty for civilian and military war resistors, and be it further

Resolved that all those assembled at the LSM National Conference are urge to take this resolution back to their local campus for adoption; urge 1974 Congressional candidates to support unconditional amnesty; and urge every campus to hold at least one study forum on amnesty during the coming year.