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50 years ago, Muhammad Ali made a controversial decision that made headlines across the globe when he refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army citing he was a conscientious objector.

He refused on April 28, 1967 in Houston, Texas.but it wasn’t until 1971 when the Supreme Court reversed his conviction.

The Houston Chronicle‘s Craig Hlavaty reports:

Ali went before military induction officials inside Houston’s Military Entrance Processing Station building off San Jacinto and refused to step forward for induction when his name was called. He was later arrested. This came after Ali had made three separate appeals to have his draft status changed because of what he called his non-violent Muslim faith and membership in the Nation of Islam.

Ali’s boxing career spiraled out of control after his arrest, with the New York State Athletic Commission suspending his boxing license and the World Boxing Association stripping him of his world heavyweight title. This banned him from boxing in the United States.

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On June 20, 1967, Ali was tried, convicted and sentenced in a Houston court to five years in prison for refusing to serve in the military and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for draft evasion. His lawyers then appealed the court’s decision, which was denied in May 1968. He returned to boxing in 1970 while his case was on appeal.

The case found its way to the Supreme Court in June 1971, where his conviction was overturned. The high court stated that it was not possible to decide which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status were used and relied on by the draft board in Ali’s case to deny his objecting status.

When Ali died in June 2016 at the age of 74, the case was again on the minds of everyone as they sorted through his long and lengthy career in the spotlight. It was a reminder that he was as fierce in the ring as he was outside of it.

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