In Philpott v. Essex County Welfare Bd., 409 U.S. 413, 93 S. Ct. 590, 34 L. Ed. 2d 608 (1973), the United States Supreme Court described the broad protection 407 affords Social Security benefits. Philpott declared that 407 barred New Jersey's attempt to reach federal Social Security disability benefits in order to reimburse the state for public assistance expenditures made on behalf of the petitioners. State welfare recipients were made to execute an agreement, as a condition precedent to receiving welfare benefits, to reimburse the county welfare board with any funds that came into their possession. When Philpott refused to turn his SSA disability benefits over to the welfare board the latter sued to enforce the agreement. The Supreme Court held 407 on its face prohibited New Jersey from reaching the petitioner's federal disability payments, explaining, "We see no reason why a State, performing its statutory duty to take care of the needy, should be in a preferred position as compared with any other creditor." Philpott, 409 U.S. at 416.