United States v. Lee
455 U.S. 252 (1982)
Chief Justice BURGER delivered the opinion of the Court.
We noted probable jurisdiction to determine whether imposition of social security taxes is unconstitutional as applied to persons who object on religious grounds to receipt of public insurance benefits and to payment of taxes to support public insurance funds. The District Court concluded that the Free Exercise Clause prohibits forced payment of social security taxes when payment of taxes and receipt of benefits violate the taxpayer's religion. We reverse.
I
Appellee, a member of the Old Order Amish, is a farmer and carpenter. From 1970 to 1977, appellee employed several other Amish to work on his farm and in his carpentry shop. He failed to file the quarterly social security tax returns required of employers, withhold social security tax from his employees, or pay the employer's share of social security taxes.
In 1978, the Internal Revenue Service assessed appellee in excess of $27,000 for unpaid employment taxes; he paid $91-the amount owed for the first quarter of 1973-and then sued in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania for a refund, claiming that imposition of the social security taxes violated his First Amendment free exercise rights and those of his Amish employees.
The District Court held the statutes requiring appellee to pay social security and unemployment insurance taxes unconstitutional as applied. The court noted that the Amish believe it sinful not to provide for their own elderly and needy and therefore are religiously opposed to the national social security system. The court also accepted appellee's contention that the Amish religion not only prohibits the acceptance of social security benefits, but also bars all contributions by Amish to the social security system. The District Court observed that in light of their beliefs, Congress has accommodated self-employed Amish and self-employed members of other religious groups with similar beliefs by providing exemptions from social security taxes. 26 U.S.C. § 1402(g). The court's holding was based on both the exemption statute for the self-employed and the First Amendment; appellee and others “who fall within the carefully circumscribed definition provided in 1402(g) are relieved from paying the employer's share of [social security taxes] as it is an unconstitutional infringement upon the free exercise of their religion.”
Direct appeal from the judgment of the District Court was taken pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1252.
II
The exemption provided by § 1402(g) is available only to self-employed individuals and does not apply to employers or employees. Consequently, appellee and his employees are not within the express provisions of § 1402(g). Thus any exemption from payment of the employer's share of social security taxes must come from a constitutionally required exemption.
A
The preliminary inquiry in determining the existence of a constitutionally required exemption is whether the payment of social security taxes and the receipt of benefits interferes with the free exercise rights of the Amish. The Amish believe that there is a religiously based obligation to provide for their fellow members the kind of assistance contemplated by the social security system. Although the Government does not challenge the sincerity of this belief, the Government does contend that payment of social security taxes will not threaten the integrity of the Amish religious belief or observance. It is not within “the judicial function and judicial competence,” however, to determine whether appellee or the Government has the proper interpretation of the Amish faith; “[c]ourts are not arbiters of scriptural interpretation.” We therefore accept appellee's contention that both payment and receipt of social security benefits is forbidden by the Amish faith. Because the payment of the taxes or receipt of benefits violates Amish religious beliefs, compulsory participation in the social security system interferes with their free exercise rights.
The conclusion that there is a conflict between the Amish faith and the obligations imposed by the social security system is only the beginning, however, and not the end of the inquiry. Not all burdens on religion are unconstitutional. The state may justify a limitation on religious liberty by showing that it is essential to accomplish an overriding governmental interest.
B
Because the social security system is nationwide, the governmental interest is apparent. The social security system in the United States serves the public interest by providing a comprehensive insurance system with a variety of benefits available to all participants, with costs shared by employers and employees. The social security system is by far the largest domestic governmental program in the United States today, distributing approximately $11 billion monthly to 36 million Americans. The design of the system requires support by mandatory contributions from covered employers and employees. This mandatory participation is indispensable to the fiscal vitality of the social security system. “[W]idespread individual voluntary coverage under social security . . . would undermine the soundness of the social security program.” Moreover, a comprehensive national social security system providing for voluntary participation would be almost a contradiction in terms and difficult, if not impossible, to administer. Thus, the Government's interest in assuring mandatory and continuous participation in and contribution to the social security system is very high.
The remaining inquiry is whether accommodating the Amish belief will unduly interfere with fulfillment of the governmental interest. In Braunfeld v. Brown, this Court noted that “to make accommodation between the religious action and an exercise of state authority is a particularly delicate task . . . because resolution in favor of the State results in the choice to the individual of either abandoning his religious principle or facing ... prosecution.” The difficulty in attempting to accommodate religious beliefs in the area of taxation is that “we are a cosmopolitan nation made up of people of almost every conceivable religious preference.” The Court has long recognized that balance must be struck between the values of the comprehensive social security system, which rests on a complex of actuarial factors, and the consequences of allowing religiously based exemptions. To maintain an organized society that guarantees religious freedom to a great variety of faiths requires that some religious practices yield to the common good. Religious beliefs can be accommodated, but there is a point at which accommodation would “radically restrict the operating latitude of the legislature.”
Unlike the situation presented in Wisconsin v. Yoder, it would be difficult to accommodate the comprehensive social security system with myriad exceptions flowing from a wide variety of religious beliefs. The obligation to pay the social security tax initially is not fundamentally different from the obligation to pay income taxes; the difference-in theory at least-is that the social security tax revenues are segregated for use only in furtherance of the statutory program. There is no principled way, however, for purposes of this case, to distinguish between general taxes and those imposed under the Social Security Act. If, for example, a religious adherent believes war is a sin, and if a certain percentage of the federal budget can be identified as devoted to war-related activities, such individuals would have a similarly valid claim to be exempt from paying that percentage of the income tax. The tax system could not function if denominations were allowed to challenge the tax system because tax payments were spent in a manner that violates their religious belief. Because the broad public interest in maintaining a sound tax system is of such a high order, religious belief in conflict with the payment of taxes affords no basis for resisting the tax.
III
Congress has accommodated, to the extent compatible with a comprehensive national program, the practices of those who believe it a violation of their faith to participate in the social security system. In § 1402(g) Congress granted an exemption, on religious grounds, to self-employed Amish and others. Confining the § 1402(g) exemption to the self-employed provided for a narrow category which was readily identifiable. Self-employed persons in a religious community having its own “welfare” system are distinguishable from the generality of wage earners employed by others.
Congress and the courts have been sensitive to the needs flowing from the Free Exercise Clause, but every person cannot be shielded from all the burdens incident to exercising every aspect of the right to practice religious beliefs. When followers of a particular sect enter into commercial activity as a matter of choice, the limits they accept on their own conduct as a matter of conscience and faith are not to be superimposed on the statutory schemes which are binding on others in that activity. Granting an exemption from social security taxes to an employer operates to impose the employer's religious faith on the employees. Congress drew a line in § 1402(g), exempting the self-employed Amish but not all persons working for an Amish employer. The tax imposed on employers to support the social security system must be uniformly applicable to all, except as Congress provides explicitly otherwise.
Accordingly, the judgment of the District Court is reversed, and the case is remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Justice STEVENS, concurring in the judgment.
The clash between appellee's religious obligation and his civic obligation is irreconcilable. He must violate either an Amish belief or a federal statute. According to the Court, the religious duty must prevail unless the Government shows that enforcement of the civic duty “is essential to accomplish an overriding governmental interest.” That formulation of the constitutional standard suggests that the Government always bears a heavy burden of justifying the application of neutral general laws to individual conscientious objectors. In my opinion, it is the objector who must shoulder the burden of demonstrating that there is a unique reason for allowing him a special exemption from a valid law of general applicability.
Congress already has granted the Amish a limited exemption from social security taxes. See 26 U.S.C. § 1402(g). As a matter of administration, it would be a relatively simple matter to extend the exemption to the taxes involved in this case. As a matter of fiscal policy, an enlarged exemption probably would benefit the social security system because the nonpayment of these taxes by the Amish would be more than offset by the elimination of their right to collect benefits. In view of the fact that the Amish have demonstrated their capacity to care for their own, the social cost of eliminating this relatively small group of dedicated believers would be minimal. Thus, if we confine the analysis to the Government's interest in rejecting the particular claim to an exemption at stake in this case, the constitutional standard as formulated by the Court has not been met.
The Court rejects the particular claim of this appellee, not because it presents any special problems, but rather because of the risk that a myriad of other claims would be too difficult to process. The Court overstates the magnitude of this risk because the Amish claim applies only to a small religious community with an established welfare system of its own. Nevertheless, I agree with the Court’s conclusion that the difficulties associated with processing other claims to tax exemption on religious grounds justify a rejection of this claim. I believe, however, that this reasoning supports the adoption of a different constitutional standard than the Court purports to apply.
The Court’s analysis supports a holding that there is virtually no room for a “constitutionally required exemption” on religious grounds from a valid tax law that is entirely neutral in its general application. Because I agree with that holding, I concur in the judgment.
Baumgartner v. First Church of Christ, Scientist
490 N.E.2d 1319 (Ill. App. 1986)
Presiding Judge Buckley delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiff, Mary Baumgartner, as executor of the estate of John Baumgartner, deceased, brought an action for wrongful death against the First Church of Christ, Scientist (“Mother Church”), Ruth L. Tanner, and the Northern Trust Company, as executor of the estate of Paul A. Erickson, deceased. Plaintiff’s action arises out of Christian Science treatment rendered to decedent by Tanner and Erickson. Defendants filed a motion to strike and dismiss the complaint pursuant to section 2-619 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The motion was granted and plaintiff appeals. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
Initially, we observe that Christian Science is a widely known religion and courts will take judicial notice of its general teachings. Its basic premise, as plaintiff acknowledges in her pleading, is that physical disease can be healed by spiritual means alone. As stated in an article on Christian Science from the Encyclopedia Britannica:
Christian Science is a religious denomination founded in the United States in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910), author of the book that contains the definitive statement of its teaching, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. About one-third of its nearly 3,000 congregations are located in 56 countries outside the United States, with membership concentrated in areas with strong Protestant traditions. It is widely known for its practice of spiritual healing, an emphasis best understood in relation to its historical background and teaching.
The cure of disease through prayer is seen as a necessary element in a full redemption from the flesh. Church historian Karl Holl summarizes the concept of treatment, or prayer, in Christian Science as ‘a silent yielding of self to God, an ever closer relationship to God, until His omnipresence and love are felt effectively by man,’ and he distinguishes this decisively from willpower or mental suggestion.
. . . . Plaintiff’s fourth amended complaint alleged that on October 13, 1974, the decedent, plaintiff’s husband, contracted acute prostatitis. The illness manifested itself through severe pain in the groin area and the inability to urinate. Decedent immediately contacted Paul Erickson and advised him of his illness. Decedent requested that Erickson provide him with Christian Science treatment. Erickson, a Christian Science practitioner, had provided decedent with Christian Science healing on several prior occasions. He was also plaintiff’s teacher and advisor on Christian Science. Erickson had been instructed by the Mother Church in the methods of Christian Science healing and was listed in The Christian Science Journal, a publication of the organization. By listing practitioners in the journal, the Mother Church certifies their training and competence.
Erickson came to decedent’s home shortly after being contacted and administered hot baths and Christian Science treatment. Erickson also “massaged and manipulated” decedent’s prostate gland. For the next several days, decedent’s condition remained unchanged. Erickson therefore contacted defendant Ruth Tanner and directed her to go to decedent's home to assist in rendering Christian Science healing. Tanner was a Christian Science nurse certified by the Department of Care of the Mother Church and was also listed in its journal. Tanner proceeded to provide Christian Science treatment to decedent. Erickson called daily to check on decedent's condition and he visited frequently to provide healing.
Decedent’s condition began to deteriorate. Plaintiff alleges that decedent decided he wanted medical treatment for his illness and that he no longer wished to be treated by Tanner and Erickson. She further alleges that when Erickson was advised of this request, he told decedent that he would die if a medical doctor was called and assured decedent that he was being cured by Christian Science healing. Decedent and plaintiff did not call in a medical doctor and instead continued with the Christian Science healing provided by Tanner and Erickson. Decedent's condition further deteriorated and he died on October 23, 1974, 10 days after he became ill.
At the time of his death, decedent had been a wealthy inventor and industrialist. He was survived by plaintiff and his two minor children. The complaint alleges that prior to his death, decedent changed his will at the insistence of Erickson and made the Mother Church a residual beneficiary of approximately one-half of his multi-million dollar estate.
Plaintiff thereafter initiated a wrongful death action against the Mother Church, Tanner, and Erickson, who is now deceased. The pleading before this court is plaintiff’s fourth amended complaint which contains five counts. Count I alleges ordinary negligence, count II alleges intentional/reckless misconduct, count III seeks recovery for medical malpractice and count IV sets forth a Christian Science malpractice claim. Count V is directed only against the Mother Church for a constructive trust. The trial court dismissed the entire fourth amended complaint for failure to state a cause of action. The dismissal was based on first amendment grounds. On appeal, plaintiff challenges the dismissal of all five counts. The issues raised on appeal are matters of first impression in this State.
I.
We first address the propriety of the trial court’s dismissal of the count in plaintiff's complaint seeking recovery for medical malpractice. This claim is based on the premise that Erickson and Tanner were under a legal duty to comply with the standards of diagnosis and care that are imposed upon members of the medical profession even though they had been retained by decedent for Christian Science treatment. We find no merit to plaintiff’s claim. Legislative and judicial distinctions between medical and spiritual treatment belie the existence of any such duty.
Our state legislature recognized the fundamental difference between spiritual treatment of human ailments and medical treatment when it enacted the Medical Practice Act. This Act exempts religious treatment from licensing, testing and other regulation. Specifically, section 4474 provides that the Act does not apply to “persons treating human ailments by prayer or spiritual means as an exercise or enjoyment of religious freedom.” Similarly, nurses who provide “care of the sick where treatment is by prayer or spiritual means” are expressly exempt from the requirement that all nurses be licensed. It follows that persons in these categories, exempt as a matter of public policy from the statutory framework which sets up standards for the medical profession, may not be held liable for failing to comply with medical standards to which they are not subject.
The argument that Christian Science practitioners should be held to medical standards has been expressly rejected by the New Hampshire Supreme Court. There, the court affirmed a directed verdict for a Christian Science practitioner where the plaintiff sought to recover for medical malpractice. In so holding, the court noted that the plaintiff knew that the defendant was not a member of the regular school of physicians and did not practice according to its methods, but instead was a Christian Scientist and practiced according to the methods recognized by such healers. . . . .
Our supreme court [in Dolan v. Galluzzo] has adopted the key principle upon which the Spead decision was predicated: that a plaintiff may not successfully establish a standard of care for one health care specialty offering the testimony of someone who practices a different specialty. In Dolan, it was held that the standard of care for a podiatrist may not be established through a physician or surgeon.
Here, plaintiff does not allege that Erickson or Tanner held themselves out to decedent as medical practitioners, nor that decedent expected or asked them to render medical treatment. As plaintiff concedes in her complaint, followers of Christian Science do not use medical aid to treat illness, but instead rely solely upon spiritual means. Decedent specifically requested Christian Science treatment when he became ill and could not have reasonably expected anything other than spiritual healing from Tanner and Erickson. There is no allegation that decedent was incompetent prior to his death. Viewing these facts and circumstances in light of the authorities cited above, we find that plaintiff cannot state a cause of action for medical malpractice.
II.
We next consider plaintiff’s count based on a theory of Christian Science malpractice. Specifically, plaintiff alleges that Erickson and Tanner deviated from the standard of care of an ordinary Christian Science practitioner and nurse when they treated decedent. We find no basis for recovery under such a theory.
The United States Constitution dictates that the only entity with the authority and power to determine whether there has been a deviation from “true” Christian Science practice is the Christian Science Church itself. As the United States Supreme Court has held, the first amendment bars the judiciary from considering whether certain religious conduct conforms to the standards of a particular religious group. . . .
[A]djudication of the present case would require the court to extensively investigate and evaluate religious tenets and doctrines: first, to establish the standard of care of an “ordinary” Christian Science practitioner; and second, to determine whether Erickson and Tanner deviated from those standards. We believe that the first amendment precludes such an intrusive inquiry by the civil courts into religious matters.
At oral argument before this court, counsel for plaintiff acknowledged that any inquiry into Christian Science beliefs would be precluded by the first amendment. He urged, however, that defendants’ conduct can be objectively evaluated by a court of law without such an inquiry. In support of this contention, counsel relied on Article VIII, par. 23 of the Manual of The Mother Church which provides that “[i]f a member of this Church has a patient whom he does not heal, and whose case he cannot fully diagnose, he may consult with an M.D. on the anatomy involved.” Significantly, this section does not require that a practitioner must consult with a medical doctor-it merely provides that he may do so. For a court of law to determine whether Erickson and Tanner violated the above tenet, it would first need to interpret the permissive language of this religious doctrine promulgated by the Mother Church. . . .
Plaintiff in her brief relies on Prince v. Massachusetts, Cox v. New Hampshire, and Reynolds v. United States. In Prince, it was held that the use of children to sell church literature violated a statute prohibiting child labor. In Cox, the court held that parades for religious purposes did not excuse a church group from obtaining a permit. Reynolds held that the religious practice of polygamy violated state law.
We find each of the above cases distinguishable from the present case. In each instance, the wrongful conduct, although religiously motivated, could be analyzed without first evaluating the tenets of a particular religion. Moreover, the polygamous marriage bans were upheld in Reynolds because the practice consisted of overt acts determined to be deleterious to public morals and welfare. No such overt, immoral activity is involved in this case. . . .
We find none of the above authorities cited by plaintiff to be persuasive analogy. The question of whether or not defendants deviated from the standard of care of an ordinary Christian Scientist is not a justiciable controversy. Accordingly, the trial court properly dismissed plaintiff's count seeking recovery for Christian Science malpractice.
III.
Next, we consider whether the trial court correctly dismissed plaintiff’s count based on ordinary negligence. Plaintiff alleged that Erickson and Tanner were negligent because they failed to withdraw from treating decedent when requested to do so; failed to withdraw when they knew or should have known Christian Science treatment was not curing decedent; failed to consult a medical doctor when they knew or should have known Christian Science treatment was not curing decedent's illness; failed to consult a medical doctor when requested to do so and when they knew decedent was going to die without medical treatment; advised decedent not to obtain medical care; coerced decedent into not calling in a medical doctor; misrepresented to decedent that the Christian Science treatment was working; and breached a fiduciary relationship.
To set forth a cause of action sounding in negligence, a plaintiff must allege the existence of a duty of reasonable care owed plaintiff by defendant, breach of that duty and injury proximately resulting from the breach. The existence of a duty is a matter of law, to be decided by the court. In deciding whether a duty exists, the court is to consider the reasonable foreseeability of the injury, public policy and social requirements, the magnitude of the burden of guarding against injury and the consequences of placing that burden upon the defendant.
Applying these principles to the case at hand, we find that plaintiff’s negligence claim must fail. For the court to determine whether defendants breached any duty owed to decedent would require a searching inquiry into Christian Science beliefs and the validity of such beliefs. As established above, such an inquiry is precluded by the first amendment.
We recognize that plaintiff alleges in her complaint that Erickson and Tanner persuaded decedent and his family not to call in a medical doctor through “coercion” and “intimidation.” Such allegations, however, are merely conclusionary. Plaintiff does not allege that decedent was not rational or mentally incompetent. Nor does she allege that decedent or herself was physically imprisoned by defendants and thus unable to contact a physician. The facts as alleged by plaintiff fail to show that the Christian Science treatment provided to decedent, a competent adult, was not a matter of his own choice and free will at all times prior to his death. Our supreme court has made it clear that a competent adult has the right under the first amendment to refuse medical treatment when it conflicts with his religious beliefs.
Accordingly, we conclude that plaintiff has failed to state a cause of action for negligence and that the trial court properly dismissed plaintiff's negligence count. . . .
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County is affirmed.
Swann v. Pack
527 S.W.2d 99 (1975)
Henry, Justice.
We granted certiorari in this case to determine whether the State of Tennessee may enjoin a religious group from handling snakes as a part of its religious service and in accordance with its Articles of Faith, on the basis of such action constituting a public nuisance.
The Circuit Court at Newport permanently enjoined the defendant, Pack, Pastor of The Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name, of Newport, and one of his Elders from “handling, displaying or exhibiting dangerous and poisonous snakes', predicating its action primarily upon a finding that ‘the handling of said dangerous and poisonous snakes is in violation of T.C.A. s 39—2208 and that said practice is done in the presence of children and other people attending church services.” . . . .
I.
To place this controversy in proper perspective, we note the pleadings and trial proceedings. On April 14, 1973, the District Attorney General of the Second Judicial Circuit filed his petition in the Circuit Court at Newport charging that respondents Pack and certain designated Elders, including Albert Ball, had been handling snakes as a part of their church service ‘for the last two years’; that this was one of the rituals of the church to test the faith and sincerity of belief of church members; that Pastor Pack ‘has become anointed’, along with other members of the church and has ‘advanced’ to using deadly drugs, to wit, strychnine; that at a church service on April 7, 1973 snakes were handled and an ‘Indian boy was bitten and his arm became swollen’; that two named church members drank strychnine and died as a result; that, at the funeral of one of these, Pastor Pack, and others, handled snakes; and that Pastor Pack has proclaimed his intentions to continue these practices. The prayer was for an injunction enjoining respondents ‘from handling, displaying, or exhibiting poisonous snakes or taking or using strychnine or other poisonous medicines.’ In the alternative, and upon failure of the named defendants to cease and desist, petitioner prayed that the church be padlocked as a public nuisance.
By order entered April 21, 1973, the trial court [found a violation of s 39—2208 and enjoined the defendants] “from handling poisonous snakes or using deadly poisons in any church service being conducted in said church or at Any other place in Cocke County, Tennessee until further orders of the Court.”
Why the judge of a court having personal jurisdiction of the parties and state-wide jurisdiction of the subject matter elected to permit these defendants to practice snake handling as a part of their religious worship in ninety-four counties of the state and deny them the same identical right in the remaining county is not clear.
Moreover the record reflects that immediately following the above quoted language the trial judge added, in his own handwriting, the following: “However, any person who wishes to swallow strychnine or other poison may do so if he does not make it available to any other persons.”
The further result of this order was that defendants could not practice snake handling, from which death might ensue but could drink strychnine, a highly poisonous drug.
The record reflects no explanation for this incongruity.
Thereafter, the District Attorney General filed a second petition alleging stepped up activity, at the Holiness Church. On July 1, 1973, ‘a national convention for the snake handlers’ cult of the United States' was held and ‘many dangerous and poisonous snakes were displayed’ and one of the handlers had been bitten and was in a Chattanooga hospital recuperating. Services were conducted on July 3 and July 7, 1973, and again snakes were handled. All this led the District Attorney General to conclude and charge that Cocke County was in imminent danger and likely to ‘become the snake handling capital of the world.’
In response to this citation, respondents were held in contempt, fined and sentenced, but sentences were suspended in each case, ‘until the said defendant handles poisonous snakes at said church are (sic) any other place in Cocke County, Tennessee.’
Up to this point defendants had not been represented by counsel.
By order entered August 18, 1973 respondents were jailed in default of payment of the fines theretofore imposed and directed to appear on August 25, 1973 to show cause why they should not be required to serve the sentences.
The hearing was conducted on August 25, 1973 and September 27, 1973. There is no substantial factual dispute between the parties. In fact the entire factual situation is dependent upon the pleadings, the testimony of one witness, various stipulations and exhibits.
It was stipulated that various witnesses would testify that they had never seen anyone other than designated representatives of this particular church handle snakes; that they never saw any person who was either a parishioner or a nonmember present at the church services who had ever been placed in immediate danger.
It was further stipulated that an anthropologist would testify that snake handling is a legitimate part of their religious service; that she had never seen anyone endangered by handling snakes; that proper precautions were always taken; and that handling snakes is a legitimate and historic part of the church service. Two other witnesses would verify this testimony.
It was further stipulated that the ‘Indian boy’, bitten at one of the services, was thirty years old.
It was further stipulated that the Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name is located about a half mile from the nearest paved road, and at the end of a dead-end, dirt, private, mountain road and on property owned by the church.
The issues were not fully developed and the record is meager.
The State made no contention that this is not an organized religious group nor did it question that the practice of handling snakes was a recognized part of its Articles of Faith, nor did it question the sincerity of the conviction of the respondents.
By final decree the trial judge made the injunction permanent, directing that defendants ‘be perpetually enjoined from handling, displaying or exhibiting dangerous and poisonous snakes at the said Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name, Or at any other place in Cocke County, Tennessee.’
II.
The history and development of the Holiness Church is relevant. The Mother Church was founded in 1909 at Sale Creek in Grasshopper Valley, Tennessee, approximately thirty-five miles northeast of Chattanooga, by George Went Hensley. Hensley was motivated by a dramatic experience which occurred atop White Oak Mountain on the eastern rim of the valley during which he confronted and seized a rattlesnake which he took back to the valley and admonished the people to ‘take up or be doomed to eternal hell.’
Hensley, and his followers, based their beliefs and practices on Mark 16, verses 17 and 18, which in the Authorized or King James version, read as follows:
And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; and shall Speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they Drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
The church Hensley founded spread throughout the south and southeast and continues to exist today, primarily in rural and relatively isolated regions throughout this area. The Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name, in Cocke County, is a part of this movement. LaBarre, in They shall Take Up Serpents, asserts that ‘(t)he roots of the movement lie deep in American religious history’ and asserts that it is one of the ‘offshoots of Methodism.’ Writers seem to be in general agreement that it is a ‘charismatic sect, or cult, or group of the Pentecostal variety.'
To say that this is not a conventional movement would be a masterpiece of understatement. Its beliefs and practices are, to say the least, unconventional and out of harmony with contemporary customs, mores and notions of morality. They oppose drinking (to include carbonated beverages, tea and coffee), smoking, dancing, the use of cosmetics, jewelry or other adornment. They regard the use of medicine as a sure sign of lack of faith in God’s ability to cure the sick and look upon medical doctors as being for the use of those who do not trust God. When greeting each other, the men use the ‘holy kiss’, a mouth-to-mouth osculation ‘accompanied by a vigorous, if not passionate hug.’ The ‘holy kiss’ is not exchanged between members of the opposite sexes.
But it is their belief in handling serpents that has catapulted them into the limelight and has produced their legal difficulties.
There is some apparent confusion with respect to their purpose in the use of serpents as a central practice in their religious beliefs. Harden v. State treated snake handling as being ‘the test and proof of the sincerity of their belief.’ In this record it is asserted that the use of serpents is designed as a test of the faith and sincerity of church members. Our research indicates that this is not precisely correct. Their basic reason is compliance with the scripture as they interpret it, and as required by their Articles of Faith. But the practice of snake handling is not a test of faith, nor proof of godliness. Its sole purpose is to ‘confirm the word’. In the words of Alfred Ball, a defendant to this suit:
We don’t take up serpents, handle fire or drink strychnine to test the faith of the people at all. That’s not the point of it, . . . These are signs that God said would follow the believers. And, these signs, are to confirm the Word of God, and that's the only purpose for them . . . They’re not to test the faith of the person doing it. They’re not to test whether he's a good person. It's simply and only to confirm the Word of God. That’s all God intended the signs for, and that’s the only reason we do them.
Pastor Pack states: “What serpent handling's for anyway is to confirm the Word.” Whether the practice is to ‘test the faith’, is not relevant to this controversy. We only make the distinction in the interest of an accurate and comprehensive statement of the beliefs of this religious group and its admittedly unusual ritual.
We should point out that the snakes are supplied by ‘sinners' or ‘sinner men’ or unbelieving ‘sinner boys' or ‘unbelievers.’
Lastly, it should be pointed out that snakes are only handled when the member or handler has become ‘anointed’. As we understand this phenomenon and the emotional reaction it produces, it is something akin to saying that a member doesn't handle snakes until the ‘spirit moves him’. Unquestionably this is an emotional stimulus produced by extreme faith and generating great courage. Perhaps the whole belief in ‘anointment’ can best be summed up by the defendant, Liston Pack:
When I become anointed to handle serpents, my hands get real numb. It is a tremendous feeling. Maybe symbolic to an electric shock, only an electric shock could hurt you. This'll be pure joy.
It comes from inside . . . If you’ve got the Holy Ghost in you, it’ll come out and nothing can hurt you. Faith brings contact with God and then you're anointed. It is not tempting God. You can’t tempt God by doing what He says do. You can have faith, but if you never feel the anointing, you had better leave the serpent alone.
Such is the nature of the religious group with which we deal.
III.
Again, this is not a conventional religious group and its members are few. There is, however, no requirement under our State or Federal Constitution that any religious group be conventional or that it be numerically strong in order that its activities be protected. Nor is there any requirement that its practices be in accord with prevailing views.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States requires in clear terms that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution of Tennessee contains a substantially stronger guaranty of religious freedoms. It provides:
That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any minister against his consent; that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience; and that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.
A ‘mode of worship’, even of a religious group wherein the handling of serpents is central to its Articles of Faith, is constitutionally protected under the Constitutions of Tennessee and of the United States.
In his original draft of the Virginia Act Establishing Religious Liberties, Thomas Jefferson, postulated, Inter alia: “No man is a competent judge of the religion of another.” Under our constitutions, a citizen may be a devout Christian, a dedicated Jew or a consummate infidel—or he may be a member of the Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name. The government must view all citizens and all religious beliefs with absolute and uncompromising neutrality. The day this Country ceases to countenance irreligion or unusual or bizarre religions, it will cease to be free for all religions. We must prefer none and disparage none.
We, therefore, hold that the Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name, is a constitutionally protected religious group. This is not to say; however, that this or any other religious group has an absolute and unbridled right to pursue any practice of its own choosing. The right to believe is absolute; the right to act is subject to reasonable regulation designed to protect a compelling state interest. This belief-action dichotomy has been the subject of numerous decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.
IV.
An early case dealing with the belief-action dichotomy is Reynolds v. United States, wherein the defendant, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly called the Mormon Church, was indicted for polygamy and defended upon the ground that, under his religious faith, it was his duty to practice polygamy. In disposing of this contention and in holding that a religious belief cannot be a justification for a criminal violation, the Court said:
Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices. Suppose one believed that human sacrifices were a necessary part of religious worship, would it be seriously contended that the civil government under which he lived could not interfere to prevent a sacrifice? Or if a wife religiously believed it was her duty to burn herself upon the funeral pile of her dead husband, would it be beyond the power of the civil government to prevent her carrying her belief into practice?
So here, as a law of the organization of society under the exclusive dominion of the United States, it is provided that plural marriages shall not be allowed. Can a man excuse his practices to the contrary because of his religious belief? To permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself. Government could exist only in name under such circumstances.
This philosophy was further refined and advanced in Davis v. Beason, wherein the Court said:
The first amendment to the constitution, in declaring that congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or forbidding the free exercise thereof, was intended to allow every one under the jurisdiction of the United States to entertain such notions respecting his relations to his Maker and the duties they impose as may be approved by his judgment and conscience, and to exhibit his sentiments in such form of worship as he may think proper, not injurious to the equal rights of others, and to prohibit legislation for the support of any religious tenets, or the modes of worship of any sect. . . . It was never intended or supposed that the amendment could be invoked as a protection against legislation for the punishment of acts inimical to the peace, good order and morals of society.
It is assumed by counsel of the petitioner that, because no mode of worship can be established, or religious tenets enforced, in this country, therefore any form of worship may be followed, and any tenets, however destructive of society, may be held and advocated, if asserted to be a part of the religious doctrines of those advocating and practicing them. But nothing is further from the truth. While legislation for the establishment of a religion is forbidden, and its free exercise permitted, it does not follow that everything which may be so called can be tolerated. Crime is not the less odious because sanctioned by what any particular sect may designate as ‘religion.’
In Cantwell v. Connecticut, the Court succinctly stated the belief-action doctrine and simultaneously recognized the delicate balance which must be preserved, in these words:
Thus the Amendment embraces two concepts,—freedom to believe and freedom to act. The first is absolute but, in the nature of things, the second cannot be. Conduct remains subject to regulation for the protection of society. The freedom to act must have appropriate definition to preserve the enforcement of that protection. In every case the power to regulate must be so exercised as not, in attaining a permissible end, unduly to infringe the protected freedom.
This was the first case to apply the ‘clear and present danger doctrine’ in the context of First Amendment freedoms of religion, vis-a-vis a ‘substantial interest of the state.’ In this respect the Court said:
When Clear and present danger of riot, disorder, interference with traffic upon the public streets, or other immediate threat to public safety, peace, or order, appears, the power of the state to prevent or punish is obvious.
The words of the late Chief Justice Hughes, writing for the Court in Cox v. State of New Hampshire, are pertinent:
Civil liberties, as guaranteed by the Constitution, imply the existence of an organized society maintaining public order without which liberty itself would be lost in the excesses of unrestrained abuses.
In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court had under consideration a resolution of a state board of education requiring that children, in public schools, salute the American Flag. Members of Jehovah’s Witnesses objected on the grounds that under their religious teachings the flag is an ‘image’ within the prohibition of the commandment against graven images. In holding that the state could not validly enforce such a requirement the Court observed that First Amendment freedoms ‘are susceptible of restriction only to prevent Grave and immediate danger to interests which the state may lawfully protect’. The Court said, Inter alia:
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.
In Thomas v. Collins, the Court said of the First Amendment freedoms:
(A)ny attempt to restrict those liberties must be justified by clear public interest, threatened not doubtfully or remotely, but by Clear and present danger. The rational connection between the remedy provided and the evil to be curbed, which in other contexts might support legislation against attack on due process grounds, will not suffice. These rights rest on firmer foundation. Accordingly, whatever occasion would restrain orderly discussion and persuasion, at appropriate time and place, must have clear support in public danger, actual or impending. Only the Gravest abuses, endangering paramount interests, give occasion for permissible limitation.
In Harden v. State, this Court was confronted with a challenge to the constitutionality of Chapter 89, Public Acts of 1947 (now s 39—2208, T.C.A.), on the basis of its alleged violation of the Freedom of Religion Clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions. After citing the belief-action dichotomy of Cantwell, certain of the dicta in Reynolds, and the ‘grave and immediate danger’ doctrine of Barnette, the Court said: “It is equally certain that this danger is grave and immediate when and wherever the practice is being indulged.”
They may believe without fear of any punishment that it is right to handle poisonous snakes while conducting religious services. But the right to practice that belief ‘is limited by other recognized powers, equally precious to mankind.’ One of those equally as precious rights is that of society’s protection from a practice, religious or otherwise, which is dangerous to life and health.
There cannot be any question that the Court acted upon acceptable legal principles and precedents in declaring the Tennessee Snake Handler’s Act constitutional in the face of an attack based upon the Freedom of Religion Clauses of the state and federal constitutions. This is not, however, to say that its application would necessarily be constitutional under all circumstances as is hereinafter pointed out. Harden simply holds that the statute does not violate the freedom of religion guarantees of the federal or state constitutions and that the defendants, under the factual situation of that particular case, had handled snakes ‘in such a manner as to endanger the life or health of any person’. Neighboring states having similar statutes have uniformly upheld and applied them. . . .
A most significant post-Harden case is Sherbert v. Verner, in which the Court’s ruling has been characterized as ‘a new test whereby the burden imposed on an individual because of a restriction on the free exercise of his religion is balanced against the state's interest in controlling the individual’s practice of his religion.’ The Court in Sherbert made it clear that the state’s interest must be more than rational or colorable in this highly sensitive constitutional area, and that ‘(o)nly the gravest abuses, endangering paramount interests, give occasion for permissible limitation.’ The Court outlined a two-stage approach, viz.: (1) whether the statute imposes a burden upon the free exercise of religion and (2) whether some compelling state interest justifies the infringement.
The most significant and relevant decision since this Court decided Harden, is Wisconsin v. Yoder. Members of the Amish faith were convicted of violating Wisconsin’s compulsory school attendance law by refusing to send their children to school after they had graduated from the eighth grade. Attendance at high school is contrary to the Amish religious faith. The Court affirmed the Wisconsin Supreme Court, holding that their criminal convictions were invalid under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It was stipulated that the defendants’ religious beliefs were sincere.
Apropos the case at bar is the following language from the opinion of the Court:
Although a determination of what is a ‘religious’ belief or practice entitled to constitutional protection may present a most delicate question, the very concept of ordered liberty precludes allowing every person to make his own standards on matters of conduct in which society as a whole has important interests.
Wisconsin concedes that under the Religion Clauses religious beliefs are absolutely free from the State's control, but it argues that ‘actions,’ even though religiously grounded, are outside the protection of the First Amendment. But our decisions have rejected the idea that religiously grounded conduct is always outside the protection of the Free Exercise Clause. It is true that activities of individuals, even when religiously based, are often subject to regulation by the States in the exercise of their undoubted power to promote the health, safety, and general welfare, or the Federal Government in the exercise of its delegated powers. (Citations omitted). But to agree that religiously grounded conduct must often be subject to the broad police power of the State is not to deny that there are areas of conduct protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and thus beyond the power of the State to control, even under regulations of general applicability. (Citations omitted). This case, therefore, does not become easier because respondents were convicted for their ‘actions' in refusing to send their children to the public high school; in this context belief and action cannot be neatly confined in logic-tight compartments.
The holding of Yoder is essentially that permitting the Amish to educate their children, after they have completed the eighth grade, in their own way and in deference to their established religious views, the statutory requirement to the contrary notwithstanding, would not impair the health of the children, nor result in their inability to be self-supporting or to discharge the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, nor in any way materially detract from the welfare of society. Therefore, the Court held that the state's interest was not so compelling as to overrule the freedom of the Amish to pursue their established religious practice.
Respondent urges upon us that the ‘belief-action’ dichotomy was expressly rejected by the Court in Yoder and apparently bases this insistence upon the above quoted language. What the Court actually rejected was the ‘idea that religiously grounded conduct is always outside the protection of the Free Exercise Clause.’ The consistent holding of the courts has been that belief is always protected, but that conduct or action is subject to regulation in the manner and to the extent hereinabove set forth.
The opinion of the Court of Appeals, with respect to Harden, reasons that subsequent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States ‘have removed the theoretical underpinnings on which the decision was based.’ The opinion recites:
The Harden decision was premised on the subsequently rejected belief-action dichotomy in free exercise cases, requiring merely a rational relationship between restrictions on religious conduct and the state interest served by the restrictions.
We respectfully differ with our brothers of the Court of Appeals. Without laboring the point, Harden was premised on belief-action, but to an equal if not greater extent upon the ‘clear and present’ danger and ‘substantial interest’ doctrine of Cantwell.
We read nothing in Yoder that would fault the analytic approach of the Harden Court or cause us to reject its reasoning or results.
We hold that under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and under the substantially stronger provisions of Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution of Tennessee, a religious practice may be limited, curtailed or restrained to the point of outright prohibition, where it involves a clear and present danger to the interests of society; but the action of the state must be reasonable and reasonably dictated by the needs and demands of society as determined by the nature of the activity as balanced against societal interests. Essentially, therefore, the problem becomes one of a balancing of the interests between religious freedom and the preservation of the health, safety and morals of society. The scales must be weighed in favor of religious freedom, and yet the balance is delicate.
The right to the free exercise of religion is not absolute and unconditional. Nor is its sweep susceptible of discrete and concrete compartmentalization. It is perforce, of necessity, a vague and nebulous notion, defying the certainties of definition and the niceties of description. At some point the freedom of the individual must wane and the power, duty and interest of the state becomes compelling and dominant.
Certain guidelines do, however, emerge under both constitutions.
Free exercise of religion does not include the right to violate statutory law.
It does not include the right to commit or maintain a nuisance.
The fact that one acts from the promptings of religious beliefs does not immunize against lawless conduct.
But, again, the scales are always weighted in favor of free exercise and the state's interest must be compelling; it must be substantial; the danger must be clear and present and so grave as to endanger paramount public interests.
We decide this controversy in the light of these objectives. In doing so we have not lost sight of the fact that snake handling is central to respondents’ faith. We recognize that to forbid snake handling is to remove the theological heart of the Holiness Church and this has prompted this Court to investigate and research this matter with meticulous care and to announce its decision through an unusually extensive opinion. . . .
VI.
This is a suit to abate a nuisance. The right of the District Attorney General to institute and maintain such an action inheres in his office. It is his duty to investigate, prosecute and insure against all infractions of the public peace and all acts which are against the peace and dignity of the state.
We hold that the handling of snakes as a part of a religious ritual is a common law nuisance, wholly independent of any state statute. In 58 Am.Jur.2d, Nuisances, s 7, a public nuisance is defined as follows:
It is a condition of things which is prejudicial to the health, comfort, safety, property, sense of decency, or morals of the citizens at large, resulting either from an act not warranted by law, or from neglect of a duty imposed by law.
Under this record, showing as it does, the handling of snakes in a crowded church sanctuary, with virtually no safeguards, with children roaming about unattended, with the handlers so enraptured and entranced that they are in a virtual state of hysteria and acting under the compulsion of ‘anointment’, we would be derelict in our duty if we did not hold that respondents and their confederates have combined and conspired to commit a public nuisance and plan to continue to do so. The human misery and loss of life at their ‘Homecoming’ of April 7, 1970 is proof positive.
Our research confirms the general pattern.
Tennessee has the right to guard against the unnecessary creation of widows and orphans. Our state and nation have an interest in having a strong, healthy, robust, taxpaying citizenry capable of self-support and of bearing arms and adding to the resources and reserves of manpower. We, therefore, have a substantial and compelling state interest in the face of a clear and present danger so grave as to endanger paramount public interests.
It has been held that a state may compel polio shots, may regulate child labor, may require compulsory chest x-rays, may decree compulsory water fluoridation, may mandate vaccinations as a condition of school attendance, and may compel medical care to a dying patient.
This holding is in no sense dependent upon the way or manner in which snakes are handled since it is not based upon the snake handling statute. Irrespective of its import, we hold that those who publicly handle snakes in the presence of other persons and those who are present aiding and abetting are guilty of creating and maintaining a public nuisance. Yes, the state has a right to protect a person from himself and to demand that he protect his own life.
Suicide is not specifically denounced as a crime under our statutes but was a crime at the common law. Tennessee adopted the Common Law as it existed at the time of the separation of the colonies. An attempt to commit suicide is probably not an indictable offense under Tennessee law; however, such an attempt would constitute a grave public wrong, and we hold that the state has a compelling interest in protecting the life and promoting the health of its citizens.
Most assuredly the handling of poisonous snakes by untrained persons and the drinking of strychnine are not calculated to increase one’s life span.
VIII.
The trial judge enjoined the respondents from handling poisonous snakes or using deadly poisons in any church service in Cocke County but authorized the consumption of strychnine.
He erred.
The Court of Appeals modified the injunction so as to enjoin respondents from handling, displaying or exhibiting dangerous and poisonous snakes in such manner as will endanger the life or health of persons who do not consent to exposure to such danger.
There is no reason to restrict the injunction to the terms of the statute, nor is there any occasion for applying a ‘consenting adult’ criterion.
On remand the trial judge will enter an injunction perpetually enjoining and restraining all parties respondent from handling, displaying or exhibiting dangerous and poisonous snakes or from consuming strychnine or any other poisonous substances, within the confines of the State of Tennessee. . . .
We fully appreciate the fact that the decision we reach imposes stringent limitations upon the pursuit of a religious practice, a result we endeavored to avoid. After long and careful analysis of alternatives and lengthy deliberations on all aspects of this problem we reached the conclusion that paramount considerations of public policy precluded less stringent solutions. We gave consideration to limiting the prohibition to handling snakes in the presence of children, but rejected this approach because it conflicts with the parental right and duty to direct the religious training of his children. We considered the adoption of a ‘consenting adult’ standard but, again, this practice is too fraught with danger to permit its pursuit in the frenzied atmosphere of an emotional church service, regardless of age or consent. We considered restricting attendance to members only, but this would destroy the evangelical mission of the church. We considered permitting only the handlers themselves to be present, but this frustrates the purpose of confirming the faith to non-believers and separates the pastor and leaders from the congregation. We could find no rational basis for limiting or restricting the practice, and could conceive of no alternative plan or procedure which would be palatable to the membership or permissible from a standpoint of compelling state interest. The very considerations which impel us to outright prohibition, would preclude fragmentation of the religious services or the pursuit of this practice on a limited basis.
This cause is remanded to the Circuit Court at Newport and will be retained on the active docket for the enforcement of the injunction and such other, further and additional actions and orders as may become necessary.
Bob Jones Univ. v. United States
461 U.S. 574 (1983)
Chief Justice BURGER delivered the opinion of the Court.
We granted certiorari to decide whether petitioners, nonprofit private schools that prescribe and enforce racially discriminatory admissions standards on the basis of religious doctrine, qualify as tax-exempt organizations under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
I
A
Until 1970, the Internal Revenue Service granted tax-exempt status to private schools, without regard to their racial admissions policies, under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), and granted charitable deductions for contributions to such schools under § 170 of the Code, 26 U.S.C. § 170.
On January 12, 1970, a three-judge District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the IRS from according tax-exempt status to private schools in Mississippi that discriminated as to admissions on the basis of race. Thereafter, in July 1970, the IRS concluded that it could “no longer legally justify allowing tax-exempt status [under § 501(c)(3) ] to private schools which practice racial discrimination.” At the same time, the IRS announced that it could not “treat gifts to such schools as charitable deductions for income tax purposes [under § 170].” By letter dated November 30, 1970, the IRS formally notified private schools, including those involved in this case, of this change in policy, “applicable to all private schools in the United States at all levels of education.”
On June 30, 1971, the three-judge District Court issued its opinion on the merits of the Mississippi challenge. That court approved the IRS’ amended construction of the Tax Code. The court also held that racially discriminatory private schools were not entitled to exemption under § 501(c)(3) and that donors were not entitled to deductions for contributions to such schools under § 170. The court permanently enjoined the Commissioner of Internal Revenue from approving tax-exempt status for any school in Mississippi that did not publicly maintain a policy of nondiscrimination.
The revised policy on discrimination was formalized in Revenue Ruling 71–447, 1971–2 Cum.Bull. 230:
Both the courts and the Internal Revenue Service have long recognized that the statutory requirement of being ‘organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, ... or educational purposes' was intended to express the basic common law concept [of ‘charity’].... All charitable trusts, educational or otherwise, are subject to the requirement that the purpose of the trust may not be illegal or contrary to public policy.
Based on the “national policy to discourage racial discrimination in education,” the IRS ruled that “a private school not having a racially nondiscriminatory policy as to students is not ‘charitable’ within the common law concepts reflected in sections 170 and 501(c)(3) of the Code.”
The application of the IRS construction of these provisions to petitioners, two private schools with racially discriminatory admissions policies, is now before us.
B. No. 81–3, Bob Jones University v. United States
Bob Jones University is a nonprofit corporation located in Greenville, South Carolina. Its purpose is “to conduct an institution of learning ..., giving special emphasis to the Christian religion and the ethics revealed in the Holy Scriptures.” The corporation operates a school with an enrollment of approximately 5,000 students, from kindergarten through college and graduate school. Bob Jones University is not affiliated with any religious denomination, but is dedicated to the teaching and propagation of its fundamentalist Christian religious beliefs. It is both a religious and educational institution. Its teachers are required to be devout Christians, and all courses at the University are taught according to the Bible. Entering students are screened as to their religious beliefs, and their public and private conduct is strictly regulated by standards promulgated by University authorities.
The sponsors of the University genuinely believe that the Bible forbids interracial dating and marriage. To effectuate these views, Negroes were completely excluded until 1971. From 1971 to May 1975, the University accepted no applications from unmarried Negroes, but did accept applications from Negroes married within their race.
Following the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in McCrary v. Runyon prohibiting racial exclusion from private schools, the University revised its policy. Since May 29, 1975, the University has permitted unmarried Negroes to enroll; but a disciplinary rule prohibits interracial dating and marriage. . . .
The University continues to deny admission to applicants engaged in an interracial marriage or known to advocate interracial marriage or dating.
Until 1970, the IRS extended tax-exempt status to Bob Jones University under § 501(c)(3). By the letter of November 30, 1970, that followed the injunction issued in Green v. Kennedy, the IRS formally notified the University of the change in IRS policy, and announced its intention to challenge the tax-exempt status of private schools practicing racial discrimination in their admissions policies.
After failing to obtain an assurance of tax exemption through administrative means, the University instituted an action in 1971 seeking to enjoin the IRS from revoking the school’s tax-exempt status. That suit culminated in Bob Jones University v. Simon, in which this Court held that the Anti-Injunction Act of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 7421(a), prohibited the University from obtaining judicial review by way of injunctive action before the assessment or collection of any tax.
Thereafter, on April 16, 1975, the IRS notified the University of the proposed revocation of its tax-exempt status. On January 19, 1976, the IRS officially revoked the University’s tax-exempt status, effective as of December 1, 1970, the day after the University was formally notified of the change in IRS policy. The University subsequently filed returns under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act for the period from December 1, 1970, to December 31, 1975, and paid a tax totalling $21.00 on one employee for the calendar year of 1975. After its request for a refund was denied, the University instituted the present action, seeking to recover the $21.00 it had paid to the IRS. The Government counterclaimed for unpaid federal unemployment taxes for the taxable years 1971 through 1975, in the amount of $489,675.59, plus interest.
The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina held that revocation of the University’s tax-exempt status exceeded the delegated powers of the IRS, was improper under the IRS rulings and procedures, and violated the University’s rights under the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment. The court accordingly ordered the IRS to pay the University the $21.00 refund it claimed and rejected the IRS counterclaim.
The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in a divided opinion, reversed. Citing Green v. Connally with approval, the Court of Appeals concluded that § 501(c)(3) must be read against the background of charitable trust law. To be eligible for an exemption under that section, an institution must be “charitable” in the common law sense, and therefore must not be contrary to public policy. In the court's view, Bob Jones University did not meet this requirement, since its “racial policies violated the clearly defined public policy, rooted in our Constitution, condemning racial discrimination and, more specifically, the government policy against subsidizing racial discrimination in education, public or private.” The court held that the IRS acted within its statutory authority in revoking the University’s tax-exempt status. Finally, the Court of Appeals rejected petitioner’s arguments that the revocation of the tax exemption violated the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment. The case was remanded to the District Court with instructions to dismiss the University’s claim for a refund and to reinstate the Government’s counterclaim.
C. No. 81–1, Goldsboro Christian Schools, Inc. v. United States
Goldsboro Christian Schools is a nonprofit corporation located in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Like Bob Jones University, it was established “to conduct an institution of learning, giving special emphasis to the Christian religion and the ethics revealed in the Holy scriptures.” The school offers classes from kindergarten through high school, and since at least 1969 has satisfied the State of North Carolina’s requirements for secular education in private schools. The school requires its high school students to take Bible-related courses, and begins each class with prayer.
Since its incorporation in 1963, Goldsboro Christian Schools has maintained a racially discriminatory admissions policy based upon its interpretation of the Bible. Goldsboro has for the most part accepted only Caucasians. On occasion, however, the school has accepted children from racially mixed marriages in which one of the parents is Caucasian.
Goldsboro never received a determination by the IRS that it was an organization entitled to tax exemption under § 501(c)(3). Upon audit of Goldsboro's records for the years 1969 through 1972, the IRS determined that Goldsboro was not an organization described in § 501(c)(3), and therefore was required to pay taxes under the Federal Insurance Contribution Act and the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
Goldsboro paid the IRS $3,459.93 in withholding, social security, and unemployment taxes with respect to one employee for the years 1969 through 1972. Thereafter, Goldsboro filed a suit seeking refund of that payment, claiming that the school had been improperly denied § 501(c)(3) exempt status. The IRS counterclaimed for $160,073.96 in unpaid social security and unemployment taxes for the years 1969 through 1972, including interest and penalties.
The District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina decided the action on cross-motions for summary judgment. In addressing the motions for summary judgment, the court assumed that Goldsboro's racially discriminatory admissions policy was based upon a sincerely held religious belief. The court nevertheless rejected Goldsboro's claim to tax-exempt status under § 501(c)(3), finding that “private schools maintaining racially discriminatory admissions policies violate clearly declared federal policy and, therefore, must be denied the federal tax benefits flowing from qualification under Section 501(c)(3).” The court also rejected Goldsboro's arguments that denial of tax-exempt status violated the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment. Accordingly, the court entered summary judgment for the Government on its counterclaim.
The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed. That court found an “identity for present purposes” between the Goldsboro case and the Bob Jones University case, which had been decided shortly before by another panel of that court, and affirmed for the reasons set forth in Bob Jones University.
We granted certiorari in both cases, and we affirm in each.
II
A
In Revenue Ruling 71–447, the IRS formalized the policy first announced in 1970, that § 170 and § 501(c)(3) embrace the common law “charity” concept. Under that view, to qualify for a tax exemption pursuant to § 501(c)(3), an institution must show, first, that it falls within one of the eight categories expressly set forth in that section, and second, that its activity is not contrary to settled public policy.
Section 501(c)(3) provides that “[c]orporations . . . organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable . . . or educational purposes” are entitled to tax exemption. Petitioners argue that the plain language of the statute guarantees them tax-exempt status. They emphasize the absence of any language in the statute expressly requiring all exempt organizations to be “charitable” in the common law sense, and they contend that the disjunctive “or” separating the categories in § 501(c)(3) precludes such a reading. Instead, they argue that if an institution falls within one or more of the specified categories it is automatically entitled to exemption, without regard to whether it also qualifies as “charitable.” The Court of Appeals rejected that contention and concluded that petitioners’ interpretation of the statute “tears section 501(c)(3) from its roots.”
It is a well-established canon of statutory construction that a court should go beyond the literal language of a statute if reliance on that language would defeat the plain purpose of the statute:
“The general words used in the clause, taken by themselves, and literally construed, without regard to the object in view, would seem to sanction the claim of the plaintiff. But this mode of expounding a statute has never been adopted by any enlightened tribunal—because it is evident that in many cases it would defeat the object which the Legislature intended to accomplish. And it is well settled that, in interpreting a statute, the court will not look merely to a particular clause in which general words may be used, but will take in connection with it the whole statute . . . and the objects and policy of the law.”
Section 501(c)(3) therefore must be analyzed and construed within the framework of the Internal Revenue Code and against the background of the Congressional purposes. Such an examination reveals unmistakable evidence that, underlying all relevant parts of the Code, is the intent that entitlement to tax exemption depends on meeting certain common law standards of charity—namely, that an institution seeking tax-exempt status must serve a public purpose and not be contrary to established public policy.
This “charitable” concept appears explicitly in § 170 of the Code. That section contains a list of organizations virtually identical to that contained in § 501(c)(3). It is apparent that Congress intended that list to have the same meaning in both sections. In § 170, Congress used the list of organizations in defining the term “charitable contributions.” On its face, therefore, § 170 reveals that Congress’ intention was to provide tax benefits to organizations serving charitable purposes. The form of § 170 simply makes plain what common sense and history tell us: in enacting both § 170 and § 501(c)(3), Congress sought to provide tax benefits to charitable organizations, to encourage the development of private institutions that serve a useful public purpose or supplement or take the place of public institutions of the same kind.
Tax exemptions for certain institutions thought beneficial to the social order of the country as a whole, or to a particular community, are deeply rooted in our history, as in that of England. The origins of such exemptions lie in the special privileges that have long been extended to charitable trusts. . . .
What little floor debate occurred on the charitable exemption provision of the 1894 Act and similar sections of later statutes leaves no doubt that Congress deemed the specified organizations entitled to tax benefits because they served desirable public purposes. In floor debate on a similar provision in 1917, for example, Senator Hollis articulated the rationale: “For every dollar that a man contributes to these public charities, educational, scientific, or otherwise, the public gets 100 percent.”
In 1924, this Court restated the common understanding of the charitable exemption provision: “Evidently the exemption is made in recognition of the benefit which the public derives from corporate activities of the class named, and is intended to aid them when not conducted for private gain.”
In enacting the Revenue Act of 1938, Congress expressly reconfirmed this view with respect to the charitable deduction provision:
The exemption from taxation of money and property devoted to charitable and other purposes is based on the theory that the Government is compensated for the loss of revenue by its relief from financial burdens which would otherwise have to be met by appropriations from other public funds, and by the benefits resulting from the promotion of the general welfare.
A corollary to the public benefit principle is the requirement, long recognized in the law of trusts, that the purpose of a charitable trust may not be illegal or violate established public policy. . . .
When the Government grants exemptions or allows deductions all taxpayers are affected; the very fact of the exemption or deduction for the donor means that other taxpayers can be said to be indirect and vicarious “donors.” Charitable exemptions are justified on the basis that the exempt entity confers a public benefit—a benefit which the society or the community may not itself choose or be able to provide, or which supplements and advances the work of public institutions already supported by tax revenues. History buttresses logic to make clear that, to warrant exemption under §501(c)(3), an institution must fall within a category specified in that section and must demonstrably serve and be in harmony with the public interest. The institution’s purpose must not be so at odds with the common community conscience as to undermine any public benefit that might otherwise be conferred.
B
We are bound to approach these questions with full awareness that determinations of public benefit and public policy are sensitive matters with serious implications for the institutions affected; a declaration that a given institution is not “charitable” should be made only where there can be no doubt that the activity involved is contrary to a fundamental public policy. But there can no longer be any doubt that racial discrimination in education violates deeply and widely accepted views of elementary justice. Prior to 1954, public education in many places still was conducted under the pall of Plessy v. Ferguson; racial segregation in primary and secondary education prevailed in many parts of the country. This Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education signalled an end to that era. Over the past quarter of a century, every pronouncement of this Court and myriad Acts of Congress and Executive Orders attest a firm national policy to prohibit racial segregation and discrimination in public education.
An unbroken line of cases following Brown v. Board of Education establishes beyond doubt this Court's view that racial discrimination in education violates a most fundamental national public policy, as well as rights of individuals.
“The right of a student not to be segregated on racial grounds in schools ... is indeed so fundamental and pervasive that it is embraced in the concept of due process of law.”
In Norwood v. Harrison, we dealt with a non-public institution: “[A] private school—even one that discriminates—fulfills an important educational function; however, . . . [that] legitimate educational function cannot be isolated from discriminatory practices . . . [D]iscriminatory treatment exerts a pervasive influence on the entire educational process.”
Congress, in Titles IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 clearly expressed its agreement that racial discrimination in education violates a fundamental public policy. Other sections of that Act, and numerous enactments since then, testify to the public policy against racial discrimination.
The Executive Branch has consistently placed its support behind eradication of racial discrimination. Several years before this Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, President Truman issued Executive Orders prohibiting racial discrimination in federal employment decisions and in classifications for the Selective Service. In 1957, President Eisenhower employed military forces to ensure compliance with federal standards in school desegregation programs. And in 1962, President Kennedy announced:
[T]he granting of federal assistance for . . . housing and related facilities from which Americans are excluded because of their race, color, creed, or national origin is unfair, unjust, and inconsistent with the public policy of the United States as manifested in its Constitution and laws.
These are but a few of numerous Executive Orders over the past three decades demonstrating the commitment of the Executive Branch to the fundamental policy of eliminating racial discrimination.
Few social or political issues in our history have been more vigorously debated and more extensively ventilated than the issue of racial discrimination, particularly in education. Given the stress and anguish of the history of efforts to escape from the shackles of the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson, it cannot be said that educational institutions that, for whatever reasons, practice racial discrimination, are institutions exercising “beneficial and stabilizing influences in community life,” Walz v. Tax Comm’n, or should be encouraged by having all taxpayers share in their support by way of special tax status.
There can thus be no question that the interpretation of § 170 and § 501(c)(3) announced by the IRS in 1970 was correct. That it may be seen as belated does not undermine its soundness. It would be wholly incompatible with the concepts underlying tax exemption to grant the benefit of tax-exempt status to racially discriminatory educational entities, which “exer[t] a pervasive influence on the entire educational process.” Whatever may be the rationale for such private schools' policies, and however sincere the rationale may be, racial discrimination in education is contrary to public policy. Racially discriminatory educational institutions cannot be viewed as conferring a public benefit within the “charitable” concept discussed earlier, or within the Congressional intent underlying § 170 and § 501(c)(3).
C
Petitioners contend that, regardless of whether the IRS properly concluded that racially discriminatory private schools violate public policy, only Congress can alter the scope of § 170 and § 501(c)(3). Petitioners accordingly argue that the IRS overstepped its lawful bounds in issuing its 1970 and 1971 rulings.
Yet ever since the inception of the tax code, Congress has seen fit to vest in those administering the tax laws very broad authority to interpret those laws. In an area as complex as the tax system, the agency Congress vests with administrative responsibility must be able to exercise its authority to meet changing conditions and new problems. Indeed as early as 1918, Congress expressly authorized the Commissioner “to make all needful rules and regulations for the enforcement” of the tax laws. Revenue Act of 1918. . . .
On the record before us, there can be no doubt as to the national policy. In 1970, when the IRS first issued the ruling challenged here, the position of all three branches of the Federal Government was unmistakably clear. The correctness of the Commissioner's conclusion that a racially discriminatory private school “is not ‘charitable’ within the common law concepts reflected in ... the Code,” is wholly consistent with what Congress, the Executive and the courts had repeatedly declared before 1970. Indeed, it would be anomalous for the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches to reach conclusions that add up to a firm public policy on racial discrimination, and at the same time have the IRS blissfully ignore what all three branches of the Federal Government had declared. Clearly an educational institution engaging in practices affirmatively at odds with this declared position of the whole government cannot be seen as exercising a “beneficial and stabilizing influenc[e] in community life,” and is not “charitable,” within the meaning of § 170 and § 501(c)(3). We therefore hold that the IRS did not exceed its authority when it announced its interpretation of § 170 and § 501(c)(3) in 1970 and 1971. . . .
III
Petitioners contend that, even if the Commissioner’s policy is valid as to nonreligious private schools, that policy cannot constitutionally be applied to schools that engage in racial discrimination on the basis of sincerely held religious beliefs. As to such schools, it is argued that the IRS construction of § 170 and § 501(c)(3) violates their free exercise rights under the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment. This contention presents claims not heretofore considered by this Court in precisely this context.
This Court has long held the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment an absolute prohibition against governmental regulation of religious beliefs. As interpreted by this Court, moreover, the Free Exercise Clause provides substantial protection for lawful conduct grounded in religious belief. However, “[n]ot all burdens on religion are unconstitutional.... The state may justify a limitation on religious liberty by showing that it is essential to accomplish an overriding governmental interest.”
On occasion this Court has found certain governmental interests so compelling as to allow even regulations prohibiting religiously based conduct. In Prince v. Massachusetts, for example, the Court held that neutrally cast child labor laws prohibiting sale of printed materials on public streets could be applied to prohibit children from dispensing religious literature. The Court found no constitutional infirmity in “excluding [Jehovah’s Witness children] from doing there what no other children may do.” Denial of tax benefits will inevitably have a substantial impact on the operation of private religious schools, but will not prevent those schools from observing their religious tenets.
The governmental interest at stake here is compelling. As discussed in Part II(B), the Government has a fundamental, overriding interest in eradicating racial discrimination in education—discrimination that prevailed, with official approval, for the first 165 years of this Nation's history. That governmental interest substantially outweighs whatever burden denial of tax benefits places on petitioners' exercise of their religious beliefs. The interests asserted by petitioners cannot be accommodated with that compelling governmental interest, and no “less restrictive means” are available to achieve the governmental interest.
IV
The remaining issue is whether the IRS properly applied its policy to these petitioners. Petitioner Goldsboro Christian Schools admits that it “maintain[s] racially discriminatory policies,” but seeks to justify those policies on grounds we have fully discussed. The IRS properly denied tax-exempt status to Goldsboro Christian Schools.
Petitioner Bob Jones University, however, contends that it is not racially discriminatory. It emphasizes that it now allows all races to enroll, subject only to its restrictions on the conduct of all students, including its prohibitions of association between men and women of different races, and of interracial marriage. Although a ban on intermarriage or interracial dating applies to all races, decisions of this Court firmly establish that discrimination on the basis of racial affiliation and association is a form of racial discrimination. We therefore find that the IRS properly applied Revenue Ruling 71–447 to Bob Jones University.
The judgments of the Court of Appeals are, accordingly, affirmed.
Justice POWELL, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
I join the Court’s judgment, along with part III of its opinion holding that the denial of tax exemptions to petitioners does not violate the First Amendment. I write separately because I am troubled by the broader implications of the Court’s opinion with respect to the authority of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its construction of §§ 170(c) and 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
. . . I am unconvinced that the critical question in determining tax-exempt status is whether an individual organization provides a clear “public benefit” as defined by the Court. Over 106,000 organizations filed § 501(c)(3) returns in 1981. I find it impossible to believe that all or even most of those organizations could prove that they “demonstrably serve and [are] in harmony with the public interest” or that they are “beneficial and stabilizing influences in community life.” Nor I am prepared to say that petitioners, because of their racially discriminatory policies, necessarily contribute nothing of benefit to the community. It is clear from the substantially secular character of the curricula and degrees offered that petitioners provide educational benefits.
Even more troubling to me is the element of conformity that appears to inform the Court's analysis. The Court asserts that an exempt organization must “demonstrably serve and be in harmony with the public interest,” must have a purpose that comports with “the common community conscience,” and must not act in a manner “affirmatively at odds with [the] declared position of the whole government.” Taken together, these passages suggest that the primary function of a tax-exempt organization is to act on behalf of the Government in carrying out governmentally approved policies. In my opinion, such a view of § 501(c)(3) ignores the important role played by tax exemptions in encouraging diverse, indeed often sharply conflicting, activities and viewpoints. As Justice Brennan has observed, private, nonprofit groups receive tax exemptions because “each group contributes to the diversity of association, viewpoint, and enterprise essential to a vigorous, pluralistic society.” Far from representing an effort to reinforce any perceived “common community conscience,” the provision of tax exemptions to nonprofit groups is one indispensable means of limiting the influence of governmental orthodoxy on important areas of community life. Given the importance of our tradition of pluralism, “[t]he interest in preserving an area of untrammeled choice for private philanthropy is very great.”
I do not suggest that these considerations always are or should be dispositive. Congress, of course, may find that some organizations do not warrant tax-exempt status. In this case I agree with the Court that Congress has determined that the policy against racial discrimination in education should override the countervailing interest in permitting unorthodox private behavior.
I would emphasize, however, that the balancing of these substantial interests is for Congress to perform. I am unwilling to join any suggestion that the Internal Revenue Service is invested with authority to decide which public policies are sufficiently “fundamental” to require denial of tax exemptions. Its business is to administer laws designed to produce revenue for the Government, not to promote “public policy.” . . .
Justice REHNQUIST, dissenting.
The Court points out that there is a strong national policy in this country against racial discrimination. To the extent that the Court states that Congress in furtherance of this policy could deny tax-exempt status to educational institutions that promote racial discrimination, I readily agree. But, unlike the Court, I am convinced that Congress simply has failed to take this action and, as this Court has said over and over again, regardless of our view on the propriety of Congress’ failure to legislate we are not constitutionally empowered to act for them. . . .
I have no disagreement with the Court's finding that there is a strong national policy in this country opposed to racial discrimination. I agree with the Court that Congress has the power to further this policy by denying § 501(c)(3) status to organizations that practice racial discrimination. But as of yet Congress has failed to do so. Whatever the reasons for the failure, this Court should not legislate for Congress.
Petitioners are each organized for the “instruction or training of the individual for the purpose of improving or developing his capabilities,” and thus are organized for “educational purposes” within the meaning of § 501(c)(3). Petitioners’ nonprofit status is uncontested. There is no indication that either petitioner has been involved in lobbying activities or political campaigns. Therefore, it is my view that unless and until Congress affirmatively amends § 501(c)(3) to require more, the IRS is without authority to deny petitioners § 501(c)(3) status. For this reason, I would reverse the Court of Appeals.