United States v. Lee

455 U.S. 252 (1982)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P, a member of the Old Order Amish, is a farmer and carpenter. From 1970 to 1977, P employed several other Amish to work on his farm and in his carpentry shop. He failed to file the quarterly social security tax returns required of employers, withhold social security tax from his employees, or pay the employer's share of social security taxes. The Internal Revenue Service assessed P in excess of $ 27,000 for unpaid employment taxes. P paid $91 and then sued for a refund, claiming that imposition of the social security taxes violated his First Amendment free exercise rights and those of his Amish employees. The Court held the statutes requiring P to pay social security and unemployment insurance taxes unconstitutional as applied. The court noted that the Amish believe it sinful not to provide for their own elderly and needy and therefore are religiously opposed to the national social security system. The court accepted P's contention that the Amish religion bars all contributions to the social security system. It noted that Congress has accommodated self-employed Amish and self-employed members of other religious groups with similar beliefs by providing exemptions from social security taxes. D took a direct appeal from the judgment pursuant to 28 U. S. C. § 1252.