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Yet there are some laws, even in a democratic society, that are so unjust that any man of conscience and determination cannot obey them. Segregation laws that discriminate against race are the best recent example in the U.S. Opponents of the war would say that service in Viet Nam is another. In that case, the conflict between the two arguments is in a sense insoluble, and the answer is not at all satisfactory: the law must be disobeyed, but the law's penalty must be accepted. That is the solution of the Thoreaus, the Gandhis and the Kings, and it must be the solution for the current resisters and deserters as well. The country can appreciate their courage and their convictions, but cannot excuse them from the consequences of breaking the law.
To say this, however, does not exclude mercy or suggest a vengeful policy. After the war finally ends and passions have cooled, a conditional amnesty should be granted. Under it, the exiles should be offered the right to return, and those imprisoned for draft resistance should be released—provided that they are willing to accept certain conditions. One of these might be some kind of compensatory service, perhaps, as has been proposed, in a poverty program or in the peacetime military. That is far from an ideal solution —but it may just be the best.