Biography
Edward Oquendo was a young Black anti-war activist, a member of Blacks Against Negative Dying and of Youth Against War & Fascism, who publicly refused to serve in what he argued was an unconstitutional war of aggression in Vietnam. Tried in Brooklyn federal court before Judge J.C. Zavatt for refusing to report for the draft, he was convicted on November 6, 1967 by a jury of eleven grey-haired whites and one middle-aged Black juror — empaneled at twenty minutes to three and back with a guilty verdict in fifteen minutes. His attorney Conrad Lynn's legal brief, which the court rejected, argued that using the draft to raise armies of aggression violates the Constitution, and quoted Ho Chi Minh's 1966 New Year message to the American people. Supporters picketed the courthouse throughout the trial, and the judge barred courthouse employees from the picket-line area, locked the courtroom doors and hammered the jury with a directive charge. Sentencing was set for December 15, 1967, with the penalty up to five years; the sentence he received has not been located. Reconstructed from Workers World, November 16, 1967.
The Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors’ November–December 1968 News Notes lists Edward Oquendo among its current prisoners at Danbury. This contemporary roster corroborates actual confinement during the issue’s reporting period. It is a dated custody observation, not an admission, release, transfer date or measure of total time served.
