Callahan v. Woods, C-78-1819 WHO.
| Decision Date | 02 December 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. C-78-1819 WHO.,C-78-1819 WHO. |
| Parties | Robert Dale CALLAHAN, Plaintiff, v. Marion WOODS, Director, California Department of Social Services; Richard Schweiker, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of California |
Alan Jaroslovsky, Deanna Beeler, California Rural Legal Assistance, Santa Rosa, Cal., for plaintiff.
George Deukmejian, Atty. Gen., State of California, Charlton G. Holland, Winifred Y. Smith, Deputy Attys. Gen., San Francisco, Cal., for defendants.
In this case the Court of Appeals reversed a finding by this Court that plaintiff's First Amendment right to the free exercise of his religion was not violated by state and federal requirements that he obtain a social security number ("SSN") for his daughter in order to receive public assistance benefits to which he would otherwise be entitled. The Court of Appeals then having found that plaintiff's belief in the literal interpretation of the "mark-of-the-beast" passages in the Book of Revelation was "religious" and thus protected by the Free Exercise Clause, remanded the case to this Court for a determination of the extent to which plaintiff's protected belief is burdened by the government's requirements in the light of Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division, 450 U.S. 707, 101 S.Ct. 1425, 67 L.Ed.2d 624 (1981), a Supreme Court case decided two years after this Court's decision in Callahan, and "whether the government here is following the `least restrictive means of achieving some compelling * * * interest.'" Callahan v. Woods, 658 F.2d 679, 687 (9th Cir. 1981), citing Thomas, supra, 450 U.S. at 718, 101 S.Ct. at 1432.
For the reasons set forth below, this Court holds that although plaintiff's belief is indirectly burdened by the requirement that he obtain a SSN for his daughter as a precondition for the receipt of public assistance benefits, it is heavily outweighed by the government's compelling interest in requiring each aid recipient to have a SSN, and the Court further holds that this is the least restrictive means of achieving its all-compelling interest in administrative viability of administering the enormous social security program, including the Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC), which affects 260,000,000 citizens who pay for the benefits and have SSNs. The case having been brought before the Court on cross-motions for summary judgment, and there being no genuine issues of material fact, the Court grants defendants' motion, denies plaintiff's motion, and orders defendants to submit an appropriate form of judgment by December 15, 1982.
Plaintiff, Robert Dale Callahan, seeks by this action to enjoin defendants, Marion Woods, Director of the California Department of Benefit Services1 ("the Director"), and Richard Schweiker, Secretary of Health and Human Services2 ("the Secretary"), from requiring that he obtain a SSN for his daughter Serena in order to qualify for AFDC benefits to which his family is otherwise entitled, alleging that the SSN requirement violates his First Amendment right of free exercise of religion.
Plaintiff is married and has two young children. Because he is unemployed, his family is entitled to receive, and has received, AFDC benefit payments for both children. On May 10, 1977, the County of Sonoma notified him that benefits would terminate for his youngest child Serena for whom he had refused to obtain a SSN. Plaintiff requested a fair hearing before a hearing officer of the Director, and on June 8, 1977, the hearing officer found that, although plaintiff was sincere in his religious beliefs, federal regulations mandating the use of SSNs in the AFDC program required denial of plaintiff's claim.3 This decision was adopted by the Director on July 13, 1977.
Pursuant to § 109624 of the California Institutions & Welfare Code, plaintiff sought review of this decision by applying for a writ of mandate in state superior court. The Director moved for joinder of the Secretary on grounds that, in light of the above-cited regulations, the Secretary was the real party in interest. Once the Secretary was joined as a defendant, the action was removed to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1).5
Plaintiff, a member of the West Santa Rosa Baptist Church who claims to have a literal belief in the Bible, asserted that his refusal to comply with the SSN requirement for his daughter Serena was based upon his belief that the SSN is the "mark of the beast" — the sign of the Antichrist who threatens to control mankind. As the source of this view, plaintiff cited Chapter 13 of the New Testament Book of Revelation, which reads in part:
Plaintiff maintained that although wisdom came too late to prevent him, his wife, or their first-born child from obtaining SSNs, his daughter Serena ought to be able to make that choice for herself and, accordingly, refused to participate in requiring her to take a number.
The defendants opposed the relief sought on two grounds: first, that plaintiff's objections to the use of SSNs were based upon a personal, secular philosophy rather than upon a religious belief; and, second, that even if plaintiff's beliefs were religious in nature and thus entitled to constitutional protection, the government had a compelling interest in the integrity of the social security system sufficient to overcome even the strong protection afforded by the First Amendment. In support of its position, the government submitted affidavits of two Health and Human Services officials, describing in detail the origins, use, and operation of the social security system in the AFDC program and asserting that the use of SSNs is essential to the orderly administration of the massive AFDC program.
The parties presented these issues in the context of cross-motions for summary judgment. The Court held an evidentiary hearing in which the plaintiff took the stand to testify as to the nature and origin of his beliefs. On the basis of that hearing, as well as the pleadings and affidavits previously filed, the Court found that plaintiff's belief in the moral impropriety of SSNs, though sincere, was not religious in nature, but rather represented a personal, secular philosophy which the plaintiff was attempting to buttress or justify with reference to biblical authority. Callahan v. Woods, 479 F.Supp. 621, 625 (N.D.Cal.1979). Accordingly, the Court held that plaintiff's beliefs were not entitled to the protection of the First Amendment and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment.6
On remand the parties again filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and the Secretary presented additional evidence concerning the feasibility of a less restrictive alternative to the use of SSNs in the form of a supplemental affidavit of Harris G. Factor, Acting Director of the Office of Regulations, Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.
Before proceeding to a determination of the extent to which plaintiff's protected belief is burdened by the Secretary's regulation, and whether the requirement of SSNs as a precondition for receiving AFDC benefits is the least restrictive means of achieving some compelling government interest, the Court, as instructed by the Court of Appeals, commences its inquiry by a review of Thomas.
In Thomas, the Supreme Court expressly stated that where the state conditions the receipt of an important benefit upon conduct proscribed by an individual's religion, thereby putting substantial pressure upon an adherent to modify his behavior in violation of his religious beliefs, a substantial, albeit indirect, burden is imposed upon religion; such a burden may be justified only upon a showing that the requirement is the least restrictive means of achieving some compelling government interest. The Court went on to hold that the denial of unemployment compensation benefits to a plaintiff who had voluntarily terminated his employment for religious reasons, on the grounds that such a termination did not satisfy the state statutory requirement of a "good cause" termination, violated the plaintiff's right to free exercise of religion. The Court reasoned that the interests asserted by the government, namely, avoiding the widespread unemployment that might result if individuals could leave their jobs for religious reasons, and avoiding probing by employers into job applicants' religious beliefs, were not sufficiently compelling to justify the substantial burden imposed upon plaintiff's religious beliefs.
In the light of Thomas, the Court must first determine the extent to which the plaintiff's protected beliefs are burdened by the government regulations requiring that he obtain a SSN for his daughter as a prerequisite to obtaining AFDC benefits for her. The Secretary contends that the regulation imposes only an incidental or indirect burden upon plaintiff's religious beliefs, because the regulation is essentially neutral and secular in nature, and does not render unlawful any belief or practice of the plaintiff, but merely determines eligibility for participation in a voluntary government program. The Secretary further argues that if a secular regulation has an indirect impact upon religious beliefs, the validity of the regulation should be determined under a standard of review less rigorous than the "compelling interest" test applicable in cases where government regulations impose a direct burden upon religious beliefs. Plai...
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Callahan v. Woods
...v. Woods, 658 F.2d 679, 687 (9th Cir.1981). therefore refused to force his daughter to assume that mark. On remand, the district court, 559 F.Supp. 163, determined that the burden on Callahan, although substantial, was heavily outweighed by the government's compelling interest in having aid......