Friday's Philadelphia Inquirer reports on last week's decision by the U.S. 3rd Circuit court of Appeals reversing the convictions on most of the tax evasion charges that had been brought against three members of the pacifist Reformed Israel of Yaweh religious sect. Defendants, it was claimed, failed to pay some $300,000 in employment taxes for themselves and other employees who were members of their sect because they objected to the use of tax proceeds to support war.
In United States v. McKee, (3d Cir., Oct. 29, 2007), the court upheld the defendants' conviction for conspiracy to defraud the United States, but reversed their convictions for employment tax evasion on the ground that the jury instructions constructively amended the indictment. The court, though, did not order an acquittal on these charges, finding that there was sufficient evidence to convict on the amended charges. Finally the court ordered acquittal of one of the defendants on charges of failure to file individual income tax returns because the evidence was insufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Peter Goldberger who represented two of the defendants criticized the appellate court for failing to reach the religious freedom issues involved, saying "It's a threat to every established pacifist religion that has had kind of an unwritten understanding with the IRS." One of the defendants has by now already completed her sentence, and two others have been moved to halfway houses and home confinement. However all three had been ordered by the trial court to file delinquent tax forms and pay back taxes as a condition of their release from prison, something to which they still object. They did pay the fines and penalties imposed on them, and technically they are now due a refund because of the reversal of many of their convictions. [Thanks to Jack E. Shattuck for the lead.]
