A Hampton couple's attempt to disassociate themselves from their Social Security numbers because of their religious beliefs was dealt a legal setback when a judge convicted Leslie Carmichael of driving without a valid license.
Neither Carmichael nor her husband have carried a driver's license since 2002, when the Department of Motor Vehicles refused to renew their licenses without Social Security numbers. Although the numbers aren't required to be on the licenses, the DMV told the Carmichaels the numbers were needed for record-keeping purposes.
The Carmichaels believe Social Security numbers issued by the government are the sign of the anti-Christ talked about in the Bible's Book of Revelation. After David Carmichael came to that belief in the mid-1990s, he wrote to the Social Security Administration and asked that any applications for numbers for his family be rescinded.
In October, Leslie Carmichael was stopped for speeding and got a ticket for not having a license. She was convicted in Hampton General District Court and appealed the decision.
The case landed in Circuit Court on Friday before Judge Wilford Taylor Jr., who listened to attorney Herb Titus argue the constitutionality of Social Security numbers before saying there wasn't much he could do at his level.
"This is not the court to hold a statute like this constitutional," Taylor said.
Titus had argued that the DMV erred in not considering a waiver of the Social Security requirement when David Carmichael asked that he and his family be exempted from having to provide the numbers on driver's license applications.
"We have a religious conviction not to associate with Social Security numbers," Leslie Carmichael testified Friday.
After declining to dismiss the case, effectively pushing the constitutional issue aside, Taylor was left to rule on whether Carmichael was driving without a valid license when she was stopped in Hampton last year. He convicted her on the charge and fined her $50.
Afterward, the Carmichaels said they're going to continue their fight. "We have no choice," David Carmichael said. "This is our life."