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Saturday, April 05, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal ACLU asks judge to lift ban on anti-tax book
By CARRI GEER THEVENOT The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada is urging a federal judge to end his ban of a book written by anti-tax activist Irwin Schiff. Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George issued a temporary restraining order March 19 that prevents Schiff from distributing his book, called "The Federal Mafia: How the Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes." George scheduled a hearing for Monday on the government's request to convert the order to a preliminary injunction. In a brief filed Friday, ACLU attorneys Allen Lichtenstein and Robert Nersesian urged George to "decline to issue a blanket ban" on distribution of the book. "Because our members are often involved with controversial speech and vehement criticism of the government, we are concerned that any action by this court not have a chilling effect on protected expression," the attorneys wrote. The restraining order stemmed from a civil complaint filed by the government against Schiff and two associates. Government attorneys argue that the defendants have been advocating the "false and frivolous position that paying federal income taxes is voluntary." George's order bars the defendants from disseminating information advocating that position. According to the ACLU brief, the organization takes no position on the truth or falsity of Schiff's views of the tax code. But ACLU attorneys argue that, under the First Amendment, noncommercial speech cannot be banned "simply because it is false." The fact that Schiff sells his book does not make it commercial speech, they say. ACLU attorneys argue that the book cannot be banned under a limited exception to the First Amendment protection of controversial speech. The exception allows for a ban on speech that incites imminent lawless action, and they argue that government attorneys failed to show Schiff's book has that effect. "While the book touts Mr. Schiff's controversial tax theories, it also makes clear that acting on them can and has landed people in jail," according to the ACLU brief. "There are numerous warnings about this in the book." The ACLU also objects to the requirement that Schiff and his associates place the restraining order on the top of their Internet pages. The attorneys called the requirement "an impermissible example of forced speech." http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Apr-05-Sat-2003/news/21046765.html
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