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.
Dec 16th, 2009 at 11:46pm
However 'undocumented immigrants' are not Americans, they are foreigner living in this country illegal. Hence, there tax records should be examined by the police.
Dec 17th, 2009 at 1:18pm
Good job ACLU. The Sheriff and everyone involved should be removed from office.
Dec 18th, 2009 at 5:16pm
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?
Dec 22nd, 2009 at 4:36pm
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!
Dec 23rd, 2009 at 10:56pm
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.
;-))
Dec 23rd, 2009 at 11:12pm
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.
;-))
Post new comment