Dec 16th, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Chang Newell, Immigrants' Rights Project at 5:10pm	ICE Abuse, Safe Communities, Fair Sentences

Colorado Supreme Court Strikes Down Sheriff’s Fishing Expedition into Immigrant Tax Files

This week, the Colorado Supreme Court stood up for the privacy rights of all Americans by ruling that the sheriff’s department in Weld County, Colorado, had violated the Fourth Amendment when it carted off 49 boxes of files seized from a local tax preparer’s office and looked through the tax records of approximately 5,000 taxpayers.

The sheriff raided the office on the theory that because the tax preparer — in full compliance with federal law and like many other tax preparation services — provided tax filing services to undocumented immigrants, his deputies were likely to find evidence of identity theft if they rummaged through all of the tax records at the tax preparer’s office.

The Colorado Supreme Court held that the search was unconstitutional because the sheriff had no evidence before he embarked on his fishing expedition that either the tax preparer or any individual taxpayer had committed any crime. The court’s decision made clear that under the federal Internal Revenue Service laws and Colorado laws all Americans have a right to privacy in their tax return information.

The ACLU of Colorado and the ACLU have a related civil case still pending before the Colorado Supreme Court.

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1. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 16th, 2009 at 10:46pm

   However 'undocumented immigrants' are not Americans, they are foreigner living in this country illegal. Hence, there tax records should be examined by the police.

2. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 17th, 2009 at 12:18pm

   Good job ACLU. The Sheriff and everyone involved should be removed from office.

3. roald Says:
   Dec 18th, 2009 at 4:16pm

   Congratulations to the ACLU.

   Anon #1, Has the IRS added a checkbox, "Check box 743.a if you are an illegal immigrant"? Otherwise how can you tell?

4. Tania Says:
   Dec 22nd, 2009 at 3:36pm

   To anyone that thinks undocummented immigrants are not Americans...educate yourselves!!! Over 30,000 U.S. military troops are undocummented immigrants! These AMERICANS are Fighting and DYING for YOU to protect those same rights you want to take away. Read some books and you will find out that this country was founded by UNDOCUMMENTED IMMIGRANTS from Europe! Please educate yourselves!

5. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 23rd, 2009 at 9:56pm

   If I am a citizen using that tax preparation service, I would be very very unhappy to think the sheriff and his cronies were pawing through my tax returns.
   ;-))

6. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 23rd, 2009 at 10:12pm

   If I am a citizen using that tax preparation service, I would be very very unhappy to think the sheriff and his cronies were pawing through my tax returns.
   ;-))