A fascinating discussion at the Joffe Trust conference on tax justice this morning on the way tax can be used as a mechanism for social oppression.
And I really mean oppression.
In the entire history of the state of Alabama in the USA there has only been one person prosecuted for tax evasion. That person was Martin Luther King Jnr in 1960.
As the Stanford website on King says:
King's ....indictment came in February 1960, after an Alabama grand jury issued a warrant for his arrest on two counts of felony perjury. The state charged that King had signed fraudulent tax returns for 1956 and 1958. A state audit of King's returns the previous month claimed that he had not reported funds he received on behalf of the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and still owed the state more than $1,700. In late February a group of King's supporters met in the New York home of Harry Belafonte and formed the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South. The committee issued press releases denouncing the charges against King as a “gross misrepresentation of fact” because King's income had never “even approached” the $45,000 that Alabama officials claimed King received in 1958 (Papers 5:25—26).
King's trial began in Montgomery, Alabama, on 25 May 1960. His lawyers effectively poked holes in the prosecution's case, calling attention to the vagueness of the indictment and arguing that any expense reimbursements King may have received from SCLC were nontaxable income. Testifying in his own defense, King asserted that the tax examiner had revealed that he was “under pressure by his supervisors” to find fault with his returns (Papers 5:30). The all-white jury deliberated nearly four hours before returning a “not guilty” verdict. In a statement following the verdict King said: “This represents to my mind great hope, and it reveals that said on so many occasions, that there are hundreds and thousands of people, white people of goodwill in the South” (Papers 5:462). Although neither case posed a serious threat to King or the movement, these cases show the extent to which white officials in Alabama went to thwart civil rights gains in the state.
In a state like the U.K. where the rule of law is considerably less respected than it was, the use of tax as a mechanism for oppression cannot be dismissed at some time in the future.
This was offered as a thought today. I thought it worth sharing more widely.
Hat tip: Alex Cobham
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But King was acquitted by a jury of White men.
I agree
But will that openness prevail?
As time passes by, you are consistently demonstrating that your current views are not sober views. You have some good positions that are well thought through. But every time you bang out a headline as above, all it does is diminish further the reputation you once had.
I’ve been told that for about 13 years Bob
And I’ve consistently ignored those who have said it
“In the entire history of the state of Alabama in the USA there has only been one person prosecuted for tax evasion. That person was Martin Luther King Jnr in 1960.”
What an odd thing to claim. Intrigued, I spend 5 minutes googling. I assume you did no research at all.
Liquor store owner Mihirkumar Patel (of Talledega) was arrested and charged 30 with counts of tax evasion (and 27 other offences) only recently.
Michelle Zeigler and Judy Smith were both convicted in Montgomery on tax evasion charges in 2014.
The Birmingham* based law firm of Polson & Polson specialise in defending people charged with tax evasion. There are lots of other firms in Alabama advertising the same service. I doubt they’ve all done nothing for the last 59 years.
The trouble with asking sensational claims is that when they are shown to be wrong, people start to doubt anything you claim.
*That’s Birmingham Alabama of course.
I was assured this was the case
If I was wrong, and there is another, I stand corrected
Steven Liddell,
It looks like ‘Andrew’ (below) has resolved the discrepancy by doing some more pertinent ‘research’ than you and he has done so without resort to insults or pompous grandstanding.
And he’s actually found the claim was pretty much justified if you substitute perjury for tax evasion – and it’s a fine legal point here
Are you sure? A quick search reveals:
https://www.alabamanews.net/2019/08/09/montgomery-woman-sentenced-to-six-years-for-tax-fraud/
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/alabama-husband-and-wife-business-owners-plead-guilty-payroll-tax-fraud
https://klasing-associates.com/alabama-tax-professional-filing-false-tax-return/
There will be more I’m sure!!!!
I have already said I relied on a verbal comment
It really does not change my argument
Do you think it does?
Why?
“the use of tax as a mechanism for oppression cannot be dismissed”
Going after Al Capone for tax evasion was more effective than traditional and direct methods. No doubt, that precedent was in mind with the Alabama skullduggery.
Everything can be weaponised, is, I think, what Richard is driving at here. Even tax justice, country by country reporting – and I’m sure even something like the Green New Deal. I would add, too, even within a strong culture of the rule of law.
That is my point
I am not sure about the last….
There is no doubt that the state’s power to levy and administer taxes can be abused, so tax (and tax administration) can be used as a tool of oppression – or even as a tool of justice, as the case of Al Capone shows – but sorry, this is just one of those anecdotes that does not stand up to scrutiny. There have been many other prosecutions for tax evasion in Alabama. And MLK was not even prosecuted for tax evasion; he was accused of perjury, and acquitted.
More of the details here. https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/that-time-alabama-jury-white-men-declared-mlk-not-guilty/S1SCfGV5CbJZhfSRxVqP7K/
Evasion of state income tax was just a misdemeanour, but perjury was a felony. And it seems MLK might have been the first (perhaps the only) person charged with perjury in Alabama in relation to signing his tax returns.
Thanks
The point is surely well made that the State will use whatever means it deems necessary to protect against those it considers enemies: surveillance, lists of subversive groups, infiltration by police, gerrymandering of boundaries, voter ID requirements, tax, laws protecting politicians who brazenly lie…..and ultimately, force.
I struggle to see the relevance of tax evasion cases in the recent past to a prosecution sixty years ago. Were there any similar cases at the time or before the King case? That would be a reasonable question.
Far more relevant to the central point, the misuse of criminal law for oppression, is the recent prosecution in the UK of Kevin Brewer for pointing out how the government enabled financial crime, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/companies-house-fraud-whistleblower-prosecuting-kevin-brewer-vince-cable-a8307246.html
That was the only such prosecution in ‘the entire history’ of Companies House.
We don’t need to worry about the future, when there is a clear and present danger right now.
In other words, you do get my point