United States v. Lee

Lee, a member of the Old Order Amish, employed Amish workers on his farm and carpentry business from 1970 to 1977 but paid no social-security taxes for them, since the Amish faith forbade it; while federal law let self-employed Amish individuals opt out under 26 U.S.C. § 1402(g), that narrow exception did not cover Amish employers like Lee. The IRS assessed over $27,000 against Lee, and he sued the government, arguing the Free Exercise Clause required an exemption; the district court agreed and held the statute unconstitutional as applied.