 Conscientious objectors who refused noncombatant service during World War I were imprisoned in military facilities such as Fort Lewis ( Washington ) , <unk> Island ( California ) and Fort <unk> ( Kansas ) . The government assumed that COs could be converted into soldiers once they were exposed to life in their assigned military camps . Simultaneously the Justice Department was preparing to <unk> 181 Mennonite leaders for violating the espionage act because of a statement they adopted against performing military service . The draftees ' refusal to put on a uniform or cooperate in any way caused difficulties for both the government and the COs . The treatment received by nearly 2000 of these absolute COs included short rations , solitary confinement and physical abuse so severe as to cause the deaths of two <unk> draftees . 
