Palmer Singleton III

Palmer Singleton III was a Vietnam War draft resister who served fourteen months in federal prison for refusing registration. He later became an attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights, representing people facing execution.

The December 1, 1972 notice identifies Singleton with Chicagos 57th Street Meeting, lists him confined at Ashland Federal Prison for Selective Service resistance, and reports a furlough to attend Illinois Yearly Meeting in August. The temporary leave is distinguished from a final discharge; no uninterrupted full custody interval is inferred. Source: https://friendsjournal.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/friendsjournal/wp-content/uploads/emember/downloads/1972/HC12-50528.pdf#page=2

Larry Gara’s February 15, 1972 report establishes that Singleton voluntarily reported to the federal prison at Ashland, Kentucky on December 14, 1971 after a Hammond, Indiana trial for refusal to register. The Youth Corrections Act imposed an indeterminate term of up to six years, not six years actually served. He had refused registration when he turned eighteen in 1969 and attended Chicago’s 57th Street Meeting. The judge entered a not-guilty plea and appointed counsel over his objections; he walked out after the court excluded witnesses on Quaker peace testimony. His attorney father, subpoenaed by prosecutors, refused to testify against him and was excused without a reported contempt sentence. The admission date belongs to the existing imprisonment and does not create a second case. Source: https://friendsjournal.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/friendsjournal/wp-content/uploads/emember/downloads/1972/HC12-50513.pdf#page=20