When I decided to be a conscientious objector to war tax, I knew that the
consequence could be harassment and/or punishment, but I decided to do it
long before I became well known as a gadfly to Empire. I was willing to
accept those consequences because I felt that if I were put on trial, the
reasons that I don’t fund war crimes would have to also be put on trial, and
I think it’s the only way that the illegality of the wars can actually get a
hearing.
I have an advisor who is an experienced tax attorney who advises the National
War Tax Resister’s [sic] Coordinating Committee and he feels that the
Empire may be targeting me to get publicity and to intimidate others from
taking the same course of action that I actually encourage others to do, so
he could inform me as to what usually happens every step of the way, but my
case could be “special” and contain many surprises, a few which did occur in
court today.
Before I continue, I’d like to say that since I have become an antiwar
“criminal,” my respect for the legal profession has grown by leaps and
bounds. I have always managed to attract some amazing attorneys to help me in
my cases always on a pro bono basis and this case is no
exception. My attorney of record in California is San Francisco attorney,
Dennis Cunningham, who has been involved in many protest cases and advising
us is Peter Goldberger in Pennsylvania. I am so thankful for the help of my
attorneys and for the
NWTRCC
and I honestly don’t know what I would do without their legal help and peer
support.
Anyway, there was a pre-hearing rally in Sacramento today and supporters came
there from Los Angeles, Ventura, San Jose, San Francisco, Nevada City and
Sacramento — we filled the small courtroom after the rally
(my pre rally statement is linked here).
After we went through security and had to relinquish cameras and the signs we
had pinned to us showing my son’s picture and my picture and No War
Taxes printed on top, we went to the courtroom where my hearing was the
final one on a short docket of four.
We were arguing that I had a 1st Amendment right
to the protest and a 5th Amendment right against
self-incrimination and the attorney for the
IRS and
her buddies that traveled from D.C.
(yes, of course, this is not a political persecution) argued that a “blanket
5th” is not allowed by case law and rulings and
she wanted me to be ordered to go to a room in the federal building to answer
questions about my “assets.” (My lawyer brilliantly argued that the “secret”
agencies already had all that information on me, anyway) — but there was no
way that I was going to be blindsided by an unwarranted demand like that and
this is where some extraordinary things happened.
Dennis was able to expound at length about our fears of political retribution
and my moral opposition to the wars and he was able to iterate that I was
against militarism and the huge proportion of our taxes that go towards it.
This is what I have always wanted — the position of Peace had its day in
court today! I was thrilled beyond belief, but what happened when Dennis
finished literally blew me away.
The Magistrate who presided over the hearing, John Moulds, is an older man
whom my attorney said has been on the bench for years and years, but is known
to be “fair” and not too “excitable.”
The Magistrate said that he read all of our motions and he looked me right in the eyes from across the room and with great emotion in his voice he said, “It strikes me as a civilized way to protest uncivilized acts.”
(Reuters)
I actually started to cry because it was such a beautiful thing to say in
such a loving way and I can’t ever recall anyone in the government and/or
establishment that has ever genuinely acknowledged my pain and practically
admitted that what happened to Casey and my family was disordered. Oh, many
democrats pretended that they were sorry for my pain, but they were only
doing it for crass political gain — and when the republicans acknowledged it,
they were “thanking” me for my son’s brave service to the country — I don’t
know which approach was worse, but I felt no compassion until today.
Then the lady from D.C. said that she
could “sympathize with conscientious objectors” but “losing a son” was no
excuse to “break the law with impunity.” What’s the empire’s excuse for
breaking the law with impunity in many ways on every day?
Dennis and I agreed to meet with the
IRS at
a future date so I could do a line by line 5th
amendment claim to each question and the lady from
D.C. requested that the magistrate order
me to comply and show up for the meeting and he said something like, “I want
the parties to talk, this hearing is over and I have 45 days to make a ruling
one way or the other on your motion — I may, or I may not.” According to
Peter, this is also something unprecedented.
I came away feeling very energized and encouraged by today’s proceedings and
if the Empire wants to make someone cower before them in fear to intimidate
others, they picked the wrong person. Even if the magistrate hadn’t been so
favorable to our side, I still would feel triumphant.
The fissures of imperial overreach and excess are widening and the Empire is
being exposed for the ridiculous bully it really is.
No Empire lasts forever and the terribly destructive nature of ours requires
us to help its inevitable collapse. I am doing everything I can in my own
small ways with all the courage I can muster and I appreciate all the support
and help I get along the way.
