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Essay Number Three on Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight: What does this US Supreme Court decision tells us about t he nature of the Court, the role of Administrative Law and the place of race in the judicial system of the United States?
1. The role of administrative law in this case: Where did this case start and what did Muhammad Ali want? Please remember that it started in the Administrative Law Court of the state of Kentucky’s Selective Service system and that Ali wanted to be recognized as a legitimate conscientious objector based on his religious training and sincere beliefs.
2. The levels of the US federal judicial system. Through what courts did this case go? How did it wind up in the United States Supreme Court? Which justices wanted to hear the case, which didn’t and why?
3. T he political independence (or not) of the judges. What was going on the 1960s that nfluenced the Justices decision? How did the Justices personal and political positons and their feelings about Muhammad Ali play a role in how their approach to the case? How does the film depict Chief Justice Burger’s relationship to the President of the United States? Why did Chief Justice Burger want the decisions of the Court to be unanimous and how were the other justices able to use this against him in the end?
4. The final decision of the Court: How did the final decision avoid the Justices taking a stand on Ali’s religious objections to the war? (Hint: Do not forget that the case was decided on a technicality, namely, the failure of the Kentucky State Selective Service Board–an administrative agency–to cite which of the three required elements Ali had failed to prove.)

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