BLACK, John

Family Name: Black

Given Names: John

Gender: Male

Birth-date:

Unknown

Death-date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Unknown, probably single

Age/ Age Range:

21 years old

Location:

VIC, Rosanna

Occupation:

Clerk

Primary Motivation:

Conscientious Objector Pacifism Religious

Reason for Court Appearance:

[1] Application for full exemption from military duties
[2] Appeal the decision to not grant full exemption from military duties

Court Name and Location:

[1] unknown
[2] County Court, Melbourne

Court Hearing Date:

[1] 23 April 1970
[2] 16 Jun 1970

Court Outcome:

[1] Application for full exemption from military duties was not granted
[2] Appeal upheld, granted full exemption from military duties

Military Event:

NSA1964 and Vietnam War

Personal Summary:

Ralph Black was from Rosanna Victoria. He was aged 21 years and worked as a clerk. He applied to be fully exempted from military duties as a conscientious objector. Magistrate K Hudspeth dismissed the application on 23 April 1970. Ralph appealed the decision. Judge Shillito of the County Court, Melbourne upheld the appeal and granted full exemption 16 June 1970. The Judge said that the three corroborating witnesses for Ralph were very important to the case. Ralph stated that he objected to killing under any circumstances. He would not serve in a non-combatant role because he would be helping an organisation ‘whose end product was death”. He informed the court he was a practicing Catholic and,” I regard a man’s life as sacred”

Confirmatory Sources:

Peacemaker, May/ Jun 1970, p.3.