Autenrieth v. Cullen
Decision Date | 10 November 1969 |
Docket Number | No. 22801.,22801. |
Citation | 418 F.2d 586 |
Parties | Neila A. AUTENRIETH et al., Appellants, v. Joseph M. CULLEN, District Director of IRS, et al., Appellees. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Francis Heisler (argued), of Heisler & Stewart, Carmel, Cal., Peter F. Franck, Berkeley, Cal., for appellants.
Meyer Rothwack (argued), Asst. Atty. Gen., Johnnie M. Walters, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tax Div., Dept. of Justice, Cecil F. Poole, U. S. Atty., Richard L. Carico, Asst. U. S. Atty., for appellees.
Before MADDEN*, Judge, United States Court of Claims, DUNIWAY, Circuit Judge, and TAYLOR**, District Judge.
In this action, 124 plaintiffs seek refunds of federal income taxes paid by each of them, some for 1965, some for 1966, some for both years. Some seek 17% of the tax paid, some 67%. The District Court dismissed the action, and we affirm.
The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1340, 1346(a) (1).1 Named as defendants are the District Director of Internal Revenue at San Francisco and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The parties are agreed, however, that the action should be treated as one against the United States and the trial judge did so treat it. We do likewise.2
The complaint contains many pages of citations of treaties, including some to which the United States is not a party, of reports of alleged war crimes committed in Viet Nam and other press reports about the Viet Nam War, of claims made by the Viet Cong and by the North Vietnamese government, and of other similar material. Plaintiffs, however, do not ask us to hold that the Viet Nam war is unconstitutional or illegal. Cf. Kalish v. United States, 9 Cir., 1969, 411 F.2d 606, cert. denied, October 13, 1969, 396 U.S. 835, 90 S.Ct. 93, 24 L.Ed.2d 86. The nature of plaintiffs' claims is stated in the complaint by quoting from their refund claims:
The District Judge assumed that this was a sincere statement of conscientious objection, religious in character, either to the Viet Nam War or to all wars, held that the complaint nevertheless stated no claim upon which relief could be granted, and entered judgment of dismissal.
Plaintiffs argue that they are being deprived of their religious liberty. Because Congress has exempted conscientious objectors from military service, plaintiffs claim that the Constitution requires that they be exempted from paying what they allege to be the portion of their taxes which is used to support either the Viet Nam War (17%) or war in general (67%). They cite the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, though by its terms it is directed to the states. They also allege that the portion of the tax to which they object is a tax laid specifically upon their exercise of First Amendment freedoms, primarily the free exercise of their religion.
Having duly filed claims for refund, which were denied, plaintiffs undoubtedly have "standing" in the sense that they have the right to bring this action, whether their claims be meritorious or not. But as we held in Kalish, supra, they do not have "standing" to raise the questions that they ask us to adjudicate. There is no allegation that the Congress, in enacting the Income Tax Law, "breached a specific...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Keller v. State Bar
...(6th Cir.1978) 579 F.2d 392, 392 [Quakers must pay income tax despite contravention of religious principles]; Autenrieth v. Cullen (9th Cir.1969) 418 F.2d 586, 588 [conscientious objector must pay income tax despite use of taxes to fund warfare]; Crowe v. Commissioner (8th Cir.1968) 396 F.2......
-
Johnson v. United States
...religious practices of certain persons. Cf. Johnson v. Robison, 415 U.S. 361, 385, 94 S.Ct. 1160, 39 L.Ed.2d 389 (1974); Autenrieth v. Cullen, 418 F.2d 586 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1036, 90 S.Ct. 1353, 25 L.Ed.2d 647 (1969); United States v. Keig, 334 F.2d 823 (7th Cir. 1964). Eve......
-
Adams v. C.I.R.
...Graves v. Commissioner, 579 F.2d 392 (6th Cir.1978); First v. Commissioner, 547 F.2d 45 (7th Cir.1976) (per curiam); Autenrieth v. Cullen, 418 F.2d 586 (9th Cir.1969); see also Bethel Baptist Church v. United States, 822 F.2d 1334 (3d Cir.1987) (social security taxes); Kahn v. United States......
-
Bethel Baptist Church v. United States
...Lull v. Commissioner, 602 F.2d 1166 (C.A.4 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1014 100 S.Ct. 664, 62 L.Ed.2d 643 (1980); Autenrieth v. Cullen, 418 F.2d 586 (C.A.9 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1036 90 S.Ct. 1353, 25 L.Ed.2d 647 (1970). Because the broad public interest in maintaining a sound tax......
-
Table of Cases
...2005), 1317 Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 494 U.S. 652, 110 S.Ct. 1391, 108 L.Ed.2d 652 (1990), 181, 1503 Autenrieth v. Cullen, 418 F.2d 586 (9th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1036, 90 S.Ct. 1353, 25 L.Ed.2d 647 (1970), 1611 Ayers, In re, 123 U.S. 443, 8 S.Ct. 164, 31 L.Ed. 2......