Posted on 02/10/2015 6:43:07 AM PST by HomerBohn
The first Republican elected sheriff in Eddy County, New Mexico, became the first sheriff in 25 years to stand up to the IRS. He physically stood at the gate of a troubled citizen's property while US Marshals threatened his arrest. The landowner filed an appeal with the court and expects his case to receive due process before his land is publicly sold. The sheriff agrees. The judge does not.
(Sheriff Scott London says he learned more about the Constitution in the year he spent campaigning for his job than in all of his years of schooling combined.)
WASHINGTON, February 7, 2015—New Mexico’s Eddy County Sheriff Scott London notified the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) via letter that the sale of county resident Kent Carter’s property is canceled until Carter receives due process of law and his appeal is heard. The certified letter dated February 4 received an immediate response from the Undersecretary of the Treasury’s office. According to the Treasury’s website, however, the public auction is still slated for February 19.
“Many officers have stood up over the years for the rights of citizens being victimized by the federal government,” said Sheriff Mack, founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, “But Sheriff London is the first one to stand up to the IRS since the early 1990s.” Mack said, “His actions show courage and humility. London is setting a good example for the rest of our sheriffs.”
Approximately ten days before Christmas, U.S. Marshals broke in the door of Carter’s rental property with their guns drawn. The tenant was a young mother with a new baby—home alone while her husband was at work. Sheriff London was called to the property to intervene. He advised the Marshals that Carter’s case was in appeal and he deserved due process. They threatened to arrest London, but he stood his ground and they backed off.
Carter has battled the IRS for decades over taxes on the earnings of his modest construction business. One court document listed his debt at $145,000, a figure Carter says an assessing agent “pulled out of thin air.” Every time he challenged them, his bill would shoot up a few hundred thousand dollars. His legal complaints state that the IRS failed to adhere to its own tax code, did not use proper accounting methods, and that the collection activity was unlawful because no notices of deficiency were given. Carter says his private and confidential information, including his social security number, was filed in public records and given to third parties. The IRS countered that it can publish and disperse the private information of Americans if it is trying to collect their money or property. A judge agreed.
Carter says the IRS is currently claiming he owes $890,000, a figure that “doubled with the stroke of a pen.”
The Taxation & Revenue Department ordered Carter to cease “engaging in business in New Mexico” until his arbitrary tax debt was paid. Carter appealed this injunction on the grounds that it was both unconstitutional and vague, as it deprived him of his right to make a living and also prohibited him from, “carrying on or causing to be carried on any activity with the purpose of direct or indirect benefit.”
“The IRS fabricates evidence against citizens by pulling numbers out of a hat and adding fees,” said Mack, “They wear people down emotionally and financially until they can’t take it anymore. No citizen should ever have to fight the IRS for decades in order to keep his land.”
“The IRS is a lie. The income tax is a lie,” said Carter. “Why should they be able to take anything? They’re worse than the mafia.”
The Carter properties have liens placed against them. A locksmith was instructed to change the locks. The IRS authorized the United States Marshal Service to arrest/evict anyone found on the premises. London, however, physically stood in front of Carter’s gate until the Marshals backed down. A public auction on the front steps of the Eddy County Courthouse is scheduled, but the local county sheriff—trained in the Constitution—resisted.
Carter voluntarily vacated his property and relocated his mobile home to an undisclosed location. “I chose to leave to keep it from escalating to something ugly—like Ruby Ridge, Idaho,” he said. Carter said he advised the Marshals and IRS Agents who publicly claimed he had armed friends on his land, “If there is going to be any violence, it is going to be you who starts it.”
Carter says 100% of his Social Security benefits is seized each month by the IRS, in addition to $2,800 the agency drained from his bank account. Legally, he says, the IRS can take no more than 15% of Social Security benefits.
Mack says banking institutions quiver when faced with the IRS’ gestapo tactics and generally hand over customers’ personal banking information, including access to accounts, without requiring a warrant or even any documentation. He encourages county sheriffs to brief every bank in their jurisdiction to refer inquiries from IRS agents to them.
Sheriff Mack is calling for the IRS to start following the law, including no “random” audits without probable cause, as they violate the Fourth Amendment. He asks them to stop committing crimes and rewarding IRS employees with bonuses for cheating on their personal taxes. “I agree with Senator Ted Cruz and others who say the IRS should be abolished,” said Mack. “It’s time they got off the backs of the American people.”
Carter says he prays daily for wisdom, and that he is surviving to be able to look into his grandchildren’s eyes and tell them he fought for their future and for America.
London is the first Republican to ever be elected sheriff in Eddy County. He distributes Bibles on behalf of Gideon International and met his wife in choir practice.
The sheriff is the boss of his county. Period. There is no higher authority in law. Not State police, not feds, nobody.
Sheriffs is it.
If he leaves his county he’s toast. But he is the king of his county. Feds do not rule his county without his permission.
That’s how he can keep them out.
If he’s fair, he’s reelected.
Citation required. There are many - here is one:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&navby=case&vol=521&invol=898
Wages, salary, interest. Pretty much as it is defined in currrent tax law.
Dang! Makes me proud to say I grew up there. Carlsbad Senior High. ‘71.
Seems you've been studying a bit too.
mark for later
So the system would still be plagued by tax cheats who hide income.
And yet Sharpton, owing millions, goes about his merry way. Sowing lies and misery far and wide Along with ruining decent people’s lives.
Well, I think your sarcasm(I’m assuming) is lost through written words.
I agree. But on top of the “taxes” this paycheck....which are about 33-35% because half of my wage is taxed at 40%, they then took another 25% of the top of my take home pay. So it was quite a bit.
Your last paragraph is exemplary. See, I do not abhor the idea of taxes. I abhor the idea of being taxed to death, because of a corrupt, incompetent government cannot do their jobs correctly.
Maybe not Constitutionally, but in reality. Do you want to be the Federal agent that beats a local elected Sheriff to the ground and handcuffs him so the Feds can suck an old man dry for money? They have to be certain they are rock solid as opposed to just bludgeoning their way through the law
I agree but it sure looks like there will be no help from any Congress persons because I believe practically all, if not all, congress people somewhere in their background have had compromising deals. As of now I have written off the Issas, the Goudies, the McCains among them. I thought perhaps Sessions would be a ray of light but it appears he too has debts to pay off.
You have described about perfectly the nrst. The only difference is that nrst is designed to be revenue neutral the first year.
Bump.
Yes, as with any system of taxation at all. However a flat tax set at 9% would have the least of that, far less than the current system. “Paying under the table’ for reason of tax avoidance might not exist at all because the reduction of dollar income that goes with that would simply not be worth it That flat tax should be the entire income tax that goes to the FedGov, including Social Security. Social Security is an income tax and there is no longer even a pretence that it goes into a separate set aside fund. It is general tax revenue and benefits are paid out of generalrevenues.
Bookmark bump ^
It has already been noted in this thread that the US District Court of Wyoming has already basically stated that they never said or implied that a federal officer needs the sheriffs permission to conduct federal law enforcement. In fact, the court also stated that anyone who would impede federal law enforcement would be subject to prosecution.
There is no such thing as one size fits all when pertaining to the Office of Sheriff in this country. All fifty states have different laws when it comes to defining the power and duties of the office of sheriff although some responsibilities tend to stay the same such as enforcing the state laws and county ordinances, maintaining the jail and state law civil process. Some states do not even have the office of the sheriff.
You basically implied that the sheriff has no power if he leaves his county. Well in some states such as mine the sheriff can make arrests state wide although he is limited in authoritative operational jurisdiction in other counties. That is a perfect example of there is no one size fits all pertaining the sheriff because all fifty states have all different verbiage in their statutes or maybe Constitution regarding the sheriff.
He is not sole king of the county because there are county legislators which in my state are regarded as County Commissioners.
Depending on the state, the sheriff may be the highest STATE LAW enforcement officer. That is the major key there. He is not the highest FEDERAL LAW enforcement officer. Federal agents are the highest federal law enforcement officers in 100 percent of every county in this great nation of ours. When it comes to FEDERAL LAW the sheriff is legally trumped by federal agents in his county and he can in no wise legally impede federal agents from faithfully performing their federal duties in his county. That is how the rule of law works. If the sheriff could rule his county as he or she sees fit then he could also interpret state laws as he or she sees fit. Fortunately, that is not the case. The notion that a sheriff is the king of his county is a wannabe basically myth that has no basis in the rule of law of this country.
Thanks for engaging also. I enjoy a good debate.
The sheriff has supreme local authority except in specific cases where the supremacy clause of the Constitution grants that authority to the federal agent.
The feds can’t just come in and run over the sheriff except as noted above.
That’s why the feds stood down.
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