McGee v. United States
United States Supreme Court
402 U.S. 479 (1971)
McGee (defendant), eligible for a draft deferment based on undergraduate enrollment, applied to his local draft board for conscientious-objector status, but also sent the President a letter with his burned draft card acknowledging he likely qualified for a graduate-school deferment while still claiming conscientious-objector status. After McGee finished his undergraduate program, the board denied his conscientious-objector claim, reclassified him as eligible for service, and sent a questionnaire, which McGee returned blank along with an unopened notice explaining his appeal rights. McGee was later charged with failing to submit for induction; he was barred from asserting an improper-classification defense at trial and was convicted, with the court of appeals affirming based on his failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether, under administrative law, a criminal defendant's willful failure to exhaust administrative remedies bars fact-specific defenses that were not raised in the administrative process.