Religious Challenge to Taxation Fails
In Hansen v. Dept. of Treasury, the Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of claims that a father and son need not have a social security number assigned, nor otherwise participate in the social security system. While the claims were brought under a first amendment theory, Hansen claiming his religion exempted him from the social security system, the basis for the court’s ruling was procedural. To the extent Hansen’s claim sought to prevent the government from collecting taxes, the claims were barred by the Anti-Injunction Act, § 7421, depriving the federal courts of subject matter jurisdiction to hear suits seeking to enjoin the collection of taxes. As to the remaining claims, Hansen failed to identify any specific statutes he claimed violated his first amendment rights. Thus, the Court upheld the lower court’s dismissal of those claims.
Despite the procedural grounds for dismissal, the Court did mention Bowen v. Roy, which demolished religious challenges to the social security system by asserting that such religious objections were no more sustainable than would be "a sincere religious objection to the size and color of the Government's filing cabinets. "
