June 19, 2007
New Hampshire nutjobs
There's a standoff brewing in New Hampshire between a crackpot [warning: craziness; warning: website not the most stable in the world] [funny personal note: I browsed to their site from a Department of Justice computer. That oughta freak 'em out.] "tax protestor" and federal agents. Ed and Elaine Brown currently owe over $1 million in back taxes dating to the late 1990s. The Browns refuse to acknowledge that the federal government can impose an income tax.
I'm currently working on a similar case in the Middle District of Penn., where some amateur wannabe lawyer is asserting that because he says he owes no income tax that the government is not permitted to determine whether or not he's correct. He also asserts that federal income taxation only applies to federal employees and people living in the District of Columbia or on federal enclaves. He is obviously incorrect, and the courts have consistently failed to dignify arguments such as this with a response. The arguments are simply summarily dismissed, as answering them might suggest that they possess even colorable merit. The fact that the Brown's aren't legally savvy enough to tell that Title 26, United States Code, Section 1 clearly imposes an income tax on all persons of all marital statuses and all estates/trusts, that isn't anyone's fault but their own.
I hope the Brown's don't kill anyone. I hope they aren't killed. Not because I think that they've got a case here, but because if they are there are hundreds of other crackpots that will view them as martyrs. I want them to be apprehended, indicted, tried, and convicted. They'll probably refuse legal counsel, as no lawyer who remains a member in good standing of any legal bar can present arguments such as theirs without either cracking up laughing or committing major ethics violations.
