True The Vote Suit Dismissed By Bush Nominated Judge – Jenny Beth Martin Not Happy
So in my in-box I find some concerned conservative consonance. All this dissing is the result of the decision in the District Court for The District of Columbiain True The Vote v IRS. Judge Reggie B. Walton who rendered the decision was nominated by President Bush II in 2001. Judge Walton was also the Chair of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, which gives him a warm place in my heart.
It is worth noting that this is the Judge James Cacheris ruled that the National Organization for Marriage could not collect attorney fees relative to its suit against the IRS. In May, the administration had a setback in a scandal case brought by Z Street which concerned IRS having a special Israel policy for exempt organizations. The ruling against the IRS was handed down by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was nominated by President Obama in 2012. Go figure.
The Gadsden flag (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Decision
The decision is very lawyerly. True The Votewas applying for exemption under 501(c)(3), which, probably because it allows for tax deductible contributions, is even more restrictive of political activity than the 501(c)(4) status sought by many of the Tea Party groups, including the self anointed flagship of the movement Ms. Martins Tea Party Patriots Inc. The process dragged, which TTV attributed to targeting because of its apparent association with the Tea Party. It is worth noting, that Im still puzzled as to why none of the affected groups ever took that course. TTV was granted exempt status in 2013 which the IRS argues makes three of the counts moot.
Here is where it gets lawyerly. TTV wanted to invoke the volunatry cessation exception to the mootness doctrine. The idea is that even though the IRS has backed off by granting the exemption, it still might get back to its old tricks, after the judge is no longer looking over its shoulder. TTV expressed concern that the IRS might select them for audit in the future based on inappropriate criteria. The Court found that to be too speculative.
TTV was also seeking money damages from several IRS employees involved in the application process. Citing other cases the Court noted that it is unnecessary to have a court created remedy since Congress has created a specific remedy for challenges to rulings on tax exemption. That is TTV could have gone to Tax Court to complain about its ruling being delayed or if it had been denied.
The other complaint that the Court dismissed is kind of convoluted. The statute that they were citing is about inappropriately inspecting tax return information, but the complaint was about the agents asking unnecessary questions.
The Reaction From The Tea Party
Jenny Beth Martin is, as noted, not happy.
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True The Vote Suit Dismissed By Bush Nominated Judge - Jenny Beth Martin Not Happy