Of Arms and the Law

Navigation
About Me
Contact Me
Archives
XML Feed
Home


Law Review Articles
Firearm Owner's Protection Act
Armed Citizens, Citizen Armies
2nd Amendment & Historiography
The Lecture Notes of St. George Tucker
Original Popular Understanding of the 14th Amendment
Originalism and its Tools


2nd Amendment Discussions

1982 Senate Judiciary Comm. Report
2004 Dept of Justice Report
US v. Emerson (5th Cir. 2001)

Click here to join the NRA (or renew your membership) online! Special discount: annual membership $25 (reg. $35) for a great magazine and benefits.

Recommended Websites
Ammo.com, deals on ammunition
Scopesfield: rifle scope guide
Ohioans for Concealed Carry
Clean Up ATF (heartburn for headquarters)
Concealed Carry Today
Knives Infinity, blades of all types
Buckeye Firearms Association
NFA Owners' Association
Leatherman Multi-tools And Knives
The Nuge Board
Dave Kopel
Steve Halbrook
Gunblog community
Dave Hardy
Bardwell's NFA Page
2nd Amendment Documentary
Clayton Cramer
Constitutional Classics
Law Reviews
NRA news online
Sporting Outdoors blog
Blogroll
Instapundit
Upland Feathers
Instapunk
Volokh Conspiracy
Alphecca
Gun Rights
Gun Trust Lawyer NFA blog
The Big Bore Chronicles
Good for the Country
Knife Rights.org
Geeks with Guns
Hugh Hewitt
How Appealing
Moorewatch
Moorelies
The Price of Liberty
Search
Email Subscription
Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

 

Credits
Powered by Movable Type 6.6.2
Site Design by Sekimori

« Phillip Dominguez case over | Main | Dave Kopel on McDonald briefs »

Corrupt Federal attorneys get nailed

Posted by David Hardy · 28 November 2009 06:28 PM

Gist: IRS claimed that certain tax shelters were in fact illegal. A number of people had used them. To simplify life, it was agreed that they would divide into groups (I think based on common characteristics of their situations), each group with one chosen person to sue, and each group would be bound by whether their "champion," as it were, won or lost. The suits were litigated, and some won and some lost.

Then an IRS higher-up has the IRS trial attorney and his supervisor ask him to clear a deal. It seems they'd offered special deals to two of the "champions" before trial, conditioned on the promise that they would remain as "champions" and tell nobody else. From there on, these parties had no real incentive to win, and one in fact dropped his attorney and argued for himself (and the IRS attorneys offered essentially to pay the other's legal fees).

Fortunately the IRS higher-up had a sense of ethics and blew the whistle. Hopefully their career won't suffer -- altho it might. The two attorneys had perpetrated a gross fraud on the court and on all parties involved. The IRS proposed a slap on the wrist -- two weeks' suspension without pay -- but attorneys' home States disbarred both of them. Now, the Tax Court has awarded $322,000 in attorneys fees to the taxpayers.

5 Comments | Leave a comment

Flighterdoc | November 28, 2009 7:07 PM | Reply

Not enough: The two former attorneys should be in federal jail, just the way that tax convicts are.

Eric | November 28, 2009 7:32 PM | Reply

yea for the whistle-blower, but the fact that the IRS's institutional position was that the two attorneys should only be suspended for a couple weeks pretty much says the IRS is corrupt.

30yearProf | November 29, 2009 10:38 AM | Reply

Police kill unarmed man -- no punishment
Police beat up woman in Chicago bar -- no punishment
Prosecutors trump up charges -- S. Ct. about to say no punishment.
Judges sentence young men to contract prison for bribes -- no punishment says US District Court judge.
Federal attornies engage in major fraur/unethical conduct -- get slapped on wrist.

All government is Corrupt. Neither party is any better. Now that the MSM has joined the Democrat government, there is NO guardian.

I want MY country back!

fwb | November 30, 2009 10:27 AM | Reply

IF someone cheats, lies, steals, or otherwise commits a crime as these folks did, they should be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.

ANYONE in a position of power proven to have committed a crime related to that person's work should be banned FOR LIFE from working in that field. If they have to start over as a janitor, so be it.

Do things right in the first place. It is a moral and ethical judgment but right and wrong do exist.

Try using the Bible for a basic guide.

Dominus providebit.

Zoolbia | November 30, 2009 2:19 PM | Reply

You didn't mention the worst aspect of the case: the Tax Court (the very same court on which the IRS' attorneys' fraud was perpetrated) decided to ignore the fraud TWICE. The 9th Circuit had to remand the case to the Tax Court TWICE, the second time with an harsh order to give relief to the aggrieved taxpayers.

The Tax Court sees itself as an administrative arm of the IRS and routinely aids and abets IRS misconduct.

Leave a comment