The Amish and the Law

By Dean Brelis

There are only two kinds of people in northwestern Pennsylvania's Lawrence County--the "English" and the "Dutch." The first category includes nearly everybody--Wasps, Italians, Jews, Irish, blacks. The second category covers only the Amish. To say that the Amish are different is merely to state the obvious. They are followers of a sect that originated in Switzerland back in the 17th century and, in search of religious freedom, fled to England and Holland in the 18th century and moved to America in the 19th. In this day of home computers and space travel, the Amish eschew zippers as decadent, electricity as unnecessary and flush toilets as wasteful. They forgo the automobile in favor of sleek trotters and canvas-topped carriages of hickory wood. They use fine, sturdy workhorses to spread manure and plow their fields, which is what they are doing these days as spring spreads over their green country.

Ed Lee is one of 5,000 Amish in Lawrence County. He differs from his neighbors for reasons other than the fact that he is not a Byler or a Swatzentrooper or a Hofstader or the bearer of some other traditionally Amish name. Lee is different because he has done something that the Amish rarely do. He has ended up in court. His offense: refusing to pay Social Security taxes for 30 Amish men who worked for him over an eight-year period as carpenters, building houses. The Internal Revenue Service claimed that he owed the Government $27,000. Lee challenged the IRS ruling in federal district court in Pittsburgh. To prove his good intentions, he offered his farm as security in the event he lost. As it turned out, he won, but the IRS then appealed to the Supreme Court.

Lee's refusal to pay Social Security taxes did not stem from any disrespect for the law. He personally has no quarrel with the Social Security system, and believes it is fine--for those who need it. But it is a tenet of their religious belief that the Amish people should take care of their own. They do not collect unemployment or welfare benefits. They do not buy insurance of any kind. By an act of Congress in 1965, self-employed Amish men are exempt from paying Social Security taxes on religious grounds. But the act does not cover Amish men who work for Amish employers. It is this apparent inconsistency that has propelled Lee into the courts.

The Supreme Court, which ruled on Lee's case in February, upheld the IRS. "A comprehensive national Social Security system providing for voluntary participation would be almost a contradiction in terms and difficult, if not impossible, to administer," wrote Chief Justice Warren Burger in the unanimous opinion.

Faced with the loss of his farm, Lee might have bowed to federal force majeure at this point. Instead, aided by two non-Amish friends, he is quietly carrying on his fight. Francis X. Caiazza, 46, a local lawyer who had represented Lee before the Supreme Court, was elected a judge the day after arguing the case and is now prevented by law from providing more than moral support. "Amish do not break laws; they are not seen in the courts," Caiazza says. "The Amish care about reason, law and order, and they are a God-fearing people. This wasn't just another case. It involves a sincere belief in religious freedom and religious rights. We lost the case in the Supreme Court, but I still feel the religious argument should have been the bottom line."

Lee's other friend, Robert Gardner, 43, a high school teacher in New Castle, is urging another tactic. Aided by hundreds of "English" volunteers, he has collected upwards of 10,000 signatures and hopes to get 10,000 more on petitions urging Congress to enact a law exempting all Amish from paying for Social Security. He has even written to President Reagan asking for his support. "The Amish," says Gardner, "are not a fly-by-night religion, just formed to avoid taxes. Legislation already exists which exempts an Amish individual from paying Social Security taxes when he is self-employed. The precedent is there, and it should be extended to cover Amish workers on the job for an Amish employer."

Amish customs, Gardner argues, constitute a "built-in form of Social Security." Forcing the Amish to pay Social Security cuts at the heart of their religion, he maintains. And it will affect others besides Ed Lee. According to Gardner, at least 30 additional Amish employers in the area could find themselves in the same predicament if the IRS decided to press them.

The predicament is something that Lee ponders as he sits by the coal stove in the kitchen of his neat, sturdy farmhouse. His feet are covered with thick blue socks; the Amish remove their shoes before entering the home. His blue eyes are gentle behind sensible, old-fashioned glasses, his beard is appropriately patriarchal, his voice surprisingly soft. "I'm a man who wakes every morning and thanks God for what is," Lee says. "I don't worry. I work. I believe that the Government of the U.S. is fair and just. It is not the Amish habit to be in confrontation; we avoid it. So it was with great difficulty and much prayer that I took this on."

Lee is emotionally drained from his three-year fight, and his earnings have fallen from $6,500 a year to $4,000. But the battle has brought him closer to his "English" neighbors. "They are truly brothers," he says of Caiazza and Gardner. "I can't say enough of what's in my heart about them." His faith in his country remains steadfast, even though a bit shaken. "I still love America," he says. "I won't betray her. But sometimes it is difficult for a man to know what is right and what is wrong."

Lee can survive the loss of his case. Whether he can survive the loss of his farm, which has been attached by the IRS, is another matter. A glance around his spartan home, enlivened with a touch of color from the hand-painted clay dishes displayed on a huge oaken chest, is enough to bring a catch into his voice. A look out over his 25 wooded acres, glistening with the remnants of spring rains, is enough to cause a shadow to slip across his face. His emotions are understandable. To men like Lee, their land is their life. To lose one is to lose the Other.

--By Dean Brelis

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