Social security tax upheld despite religious objection

The Supreme Court ruled 9 to 0 the government can collect social security taxes from employers who object to the levies on religious grounds.

Edwin D. Lee, a farmer in the Old Order Amish sect in New Wilmington, Pa., had refused to pay the employer portion of social security withholding for the five sect members who work in his carpentry business, because the Amish have their own welfare system and prohibit members from paying social security taxes or receiving benefits from public-assistance programs.