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EAGLES IN ORANGE JUMPSUITS
May 27, 2008
A few years ago anti-tax author Lynne Meredith was sentenced to prison for involvement with tax evasion schemes. Last week one of her loyal readers had his turn in a federal appeals court.
James Ellet read Ms. Meredith's opus "Vultures in Eagle's Clothing: Lawfully Breaking Free from Ingnorance Related Slavery." Note the clever "IRS" in the title. From the Second Circuit opinion:
Ellett sought to persuade the jury that the prosecution did not prove the willfulness element of tax evasion, because he sincerely believed that, as a native of one of the 50 states who worked for a private employer, he was exercising a "nontaxable right" to engage in labor. Ellett testified that he formulated this belief by reading portions of Vultures in Eagle's Clothing at least one hundred times and by spending hours researching the topic in a law library.
No matter how closely you study something stupid, it remains stupid.
The Second Circuit rejected Mr. Ellet's appeal, which was based on the idea that he should have been allowed to litigate his tax liability in the civil courts before being prosecuted. This case is a sad illustration of how much damage foolish tax protester theories can cause.
Cite: United States v. Ellett, No. 07-3862-CR
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