In re De Bellis

493 F. Supp. 534 (1980)

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In re De Bellis

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
493 F. Supp. 534 (1980)

CS

Facts

Juana Mabel De Bellis (plaintiff) petitioned to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. As part of the naturalization process, petitioners were required under § 337(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to freely and without reservation take an oath renouncing allegiance to their former country and swearing allegiance to the United States. Clause 5 of this oath required petitioners to swear to bear arms for the United States or perform noncombat service when required by law. For petitioners whose religious beliefs forbade them to swear to this portion of the oath, a modified oath was allowed under which the petitioner would swear to perform work of national importance if required by law. De Bellis was a Jehovah’s Witness, and under her religious beliefs she refused to swear to bear arms or perform noncombat service. De Bellis also refused, however, to swear to the modified oath in its stated form. De Bellis proposing instead that she would be willing to swear to perform work of national importance if required by law only if it did not amount to a substitute for military work, in her own determination. The United States Naturalization Service (the agency) (defendant) recommended that De Bellis’s naturalization be denied on the grounds that she would not take the prescribed oath of allegiance without mental reservation.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Ditter, J.)

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