LE††UCE PREY
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a religious rights case involving an Idaho man who refused to provide the state his Social Security number in a job-related filing because he said it was “the number of the beast” – an ominous biblical reference.
The justices let stand a lower court ruling against a man named George Ricks who in a lawsuit against Idaho demanded an exemption due to his Christian beliefs from the state’s requirement that he provide his Social Security number to apply to work as a state contractor.
“By forcing me to disclose an SSN (Social Security number) in order for one to buy my labor or for me to sell my labor, is in essence the number of the beast and the card is a form of the mark,” Ricks wrote.
