Tax rebel can't sell his book, judge rules

first ammendment center.org ^ | 6.21.03 | The Associated Press

[boris]

Can he give it away for free?

[templar]

Can he give it away for free?

Can he yell "FIRE" in a crowded theater?

As the Judge ruled: "There is no protection ... for speech or advocacy that is directed toward producing imminent lawless action," .

[Maceman]

Whether you agree with him or not, Schiff is a brilliant and patriotic American who IMHO is very much to be admire by lovers of liberty.

[ikka]

"There is no protection ... for speech or advocacy that is directed toward producing imminent lawless action,"

Does this apply to MALDEF and other illegal immigrant supporters as well? What about the people who want to help out illegals by placing water and food at border crossing points in the desert?

I didn't think so...

[trick question]

He's a con man and charlatan and calling him a patriot is an insult to anyone who legitimately is a patriot at heart.

[Prodigal Son]

So in other words I couldn't publish a manuscript that encouraged people to go on a tax strike protest against the gov't? (ie to not pay their taxes as a way of protesting gov't policy)

Yelling fire in a theater is not similar at all to encouraging people to go on tax protest.

[Normal4me]

Publishing a book ever caused a stampede with injuries or death? (there's a Hitlery joke in here somewhere....)

[You Dirty Rats]

This nut was a fixture on radio talk shows 25 years ago. He was a nut then, he's a nut now and he'll always be a nut.

[Prodigal Son]

He was a nut then, he's a nut now and he'll always be a nut.

Aye, this may be so. But does this mean he can't publish his book?

[Consort]

If we tried to follow his advice, the IRS would likely get bigger and the lawyers would get richer.

[whereasandsoforth]

It's at least as honest as Hil's tome and she gets police escorts to promote her swill.

[Bon mots]

He could always publish it from someplace where the US Gov't has no jurisdiction. Sell it online. Problem solved.

[F.J. Mitchell]

In refrence to your tag line: Any sentence with Hillary in it must in all seriousness be considered a joke.

[F.J. Mitchell]

And prisons would get bigger and Lifers would have a bigger selection of designated girl friends.

[harpu]

Man needs to move to find a Canadian or some other foreign distributor. U.S Government can stop a U.S. resident from buying...

[templar]

Publishing a book ever caused a stampede with injuries or death?

Mein Kamph comes to mind. There are others (i.e. How to Kill a Black Man). There probably have been more illegal acts, murders, and human disasters propagated by books than by the spoken word. Directly advocating them (unlawful activities) is what this ruling is about.

[ikka]

Can he yell "FIRE" in a crowded theater?Your argument is bogus. The real reason you can't yell fire is that you are infringing on the theater owner's property rights; or trying t incite a riot or civil disturbance. Not at all similar.

[Prodigal Son]

Yep. And the thing is- I don't necessarily agree with what he's saying (not saying I don't but it's a side issue). In many places you have to get a permit to hold a demonstration- ie demonstrating without a permit is illegal. What this judge is saying is it would be against the law for me to publish a manuscript calling for people to go out (tomorrow for example) and demonstrate peacefully without a permit or to call for people to get together in large groups and stand in major streets in order to block traffic (as a way to protest).

It's not so much that I want to do any of those things but I don't know how far I'd want to go in setting a precedent that forbade people to call out for these sorts of non-violent, non-cooperative actions. The Feds don't go after ELF/ALF like this although they are actually calling for violence. You go over to Raisethefist.com and they've got complete manuals on anarchy and how to battle the police yet the Feds leave that stuff up. This fellow isn't telling anybody to torch McDonald's. He's simply advocating they not pay their taxes.

[templar]

... the IRS would likely get bigger and the lawyers would get richer.

And you would likely end up with major troubles.

check here