From the November 2005 Idaho Observer:

Irwin Schiff railroaded right to slammer by a two-bit federal judge running kangaroo Las Vegas courtroom

The 77-year-old tax protestor was being held without bond and in chains after being convicted on 14 counts, including conspiracy and income tax evasion. Trial observers say court proceedings looked like an episode of the "Three Stooges" with "Moe, Curly and Larry" prosecuting the case.

by Greg Szymanski

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it!"

"Public enemy No. 1 Irwin Schiff is in chains and being held without bond as a flight risk in the Las Vegas City Jail, as the 77-year-old tax crook was convicted October 24, 2005, on 14 counts of income tax evasion."

Now that’s the bogus headline the government wants America to read and believe about the freedom-fighting tax guru who claims income taxes have been illegally collected for years.

But the real criminals in this unfortunate case are those professing to uphold justice— "Moe, Curly and Larry," the nicknames given to the Schiff’s prosecutors, as well as the two-bit, crooked card-dealing Las Vegas federal judge Kent Dawson, who essentially railroaded Schiff right to the slammer.

Now that’s a bold statement, one these legal bozos aren’t used to hearing and one not usually associated with so-called "officers of the court."

But if the shoe fits, wear it.

And in this case the "judicial shoes" are a perfect fit for nothing less than a "judicial fix" in order to keep the government charade going that wages and salaries are "income" that can be "indirectly" taxed without "apportionment."

That it is "lawful" or even "legal" for the federal government to directly tax the wages and salaries of Americans as if they are income is a legal fantasy being perpetuated by every federal judge, prosecutor and IRS agent in the land because they are the point men assigned the task of keeping the "cash cow" if IRS collections safely bedded down in Uncle Sam’s barn.

Anyone with half a brain who reads the Constitution and its related tax cases has really no choice but to come to the same conclusion, the indisputable conclusion that the collection of people’s wages as taxes is unconstitutional.

But what’s right, just, fair and, for that matter, constitutional means nothing when it comes to disrupting the federal government’s cash flow. And Schiff is just another example in the long line of people abused, used and thrown to the dogs by a group of judicial rats, lacking any type of integrity, honor or sense of fair play.

"The judge in Irwin’s case was a complete and utter tyrant," said Mike Golden, a close friend of Schiff who sat by his side every day throughout the two-month trial. "Dawson ought to be thrown off the bench and to say that Irwin was railroaded is an understatement.

"I watched and listened to the entire proceeding and there were many in the courtroom whose jaws were dropping by the conduct of the so-called ‘judge’." He made no bones about it that he didn’t like Irwin, having the audacity in open court on the third or fourth day to even say and I quote: ‘The law has nothing to do with the trial." [emphasis added]

"Behind closed doors Dawson even told Irwin that if he tries to introduce law into his court, every time he does it he’ll get one day in jail. I could see the judge counting the days while Irwin talked without the jury knowing and I think even if he wasn’t convicted he would have spent at least six years in jail just on contempt charges.

"It was nothing less than a judicial joke and I even nicknamed the prosecutors, who looked like the Three Stooges, Moe, Curly and Larry. I was kicked out of court several times for making comments, but when they got word of their nicknames, I even heard them call each other the names of the Stooges."

Despite the intermittent levity, the Schiff federal trial from a legal perspective became a kangaroo court, according to Golden, other legal observers and Schiff’s new appellate attorney, Mike Nash of Chicago.

Nash, an attorney with 30 years appellate experience, came on the scene several days ago as Schiff finally became convinced outside legal help may be his only chance of survival and not dying in jail in the face of what he now fully understands is a corrupt system bent on putting him away for life.

"Mike saw Irwin just a couple of days ago and is trying to keep his spirits up and is confident the trial errors in this case will eventually set Irwin free," said Golden.

Golden visited Schiff in jail a few days after Schiff was taken into custody and hauled off to jail in chains. During the visit, the elderly Schiff was kept in chains and deprived of adequate blanketing in a cold and damp jail cell. "I have been a paramedic and, let me tell you, Irwin looked like he was on his last leg. While the other prisoners were walking without cuffs, here we have a 77-year-old man held without bond as a flight risk and still kept in manacles.

"He was given no blankets and when I saw him, he damn near fell off the chair he was sitting on because he was so cold and weak" Golden reported.

Also commenting on the unfairness of the Schiff conviction was Phil Hart, a Republican State Legislator from Idaho, who has written an extensive book called "Constitutional Income" that presents a solid legal argument that wages and salaries were never intended to be collected as income.

"The government just doesn’t want to listen to the arguments and Irwin’s case is a prime example," said Hart this week from his Idaho office, adding his research about income taxes dates all the way back to the Magna Carta. "Until Americans are educated about their own constitutional rights in relation to the income tax laws and until they want to change things, the government will continue to unfairly tax its citizens.

"The only way to change things is to get enough political momentum and people behind exposing the unconstitutional nature of the income tax laws."

Despite arguments made by people like Schiff and Rep. Hart, the attorneys for the Justice Department’s Tax Division had a different take on the Schiff prosecution.

"People who evade their tax obligations, or encourage or enable others to do so, are cheating all law-abiding taxpayers," said Eileen O’Connor, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, adding that this marks the third time Schiff, who served as his own attorney during the five-week trial, has been convicted of tax-related offenses.

"Paying taxes is the price of citizenship. After three times, I would hope that even Schiff realizes that he has struck out," said Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson.

Schiff will be sentenced January 20 and faces up to 43 years in prison and $3.25 million in fines for charges including income tax evasion and filing false tax returns for the years 1997 through 2002.

Cindy Neun, 52, a co-defendant, was convicted on 15 counts, including conspiracy, tax evasion and aiding in the filing of fraudulent tax returns. Neun faces up to 50 years in prison and $3.3 million in fines,

A third co-defendant, Lawrence Cohen, 65, was found guilty of one count of aiding in the filing of fraudulent tax returns and acquitted on three other counts of the same charge, and of conspiracy.

For years, Schiff has been holding tax seminars and selling books such as "The Federal Mafia: How the Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes" and "The Great Income Tax Hoax: Why You Can Immediately Stop Paying This Illegally Enforced Tax."

A note on Cindy Neun

Irwin and Cindy came to north Idaho in July, 2003, to speak at the annual Patriot Potluck Picnic in Coeur d’Alene. It was our pleasure to have them stay with us in our home for a few days. They were both, of course, fun and interesting guests, but Cindy, especially, was unable to hide the fact that she is really an angel masquerading as one of us. Her nature is to be thoughtful, helpful and to think of all the little things that makes the lives of others more pleasant.

These are the qualities that guided her income tax work; these are the qualities Judge Dawson (not a jury) convicted and sent to jail; these are the qualities Judge Dawson may sentence to serve 50 years in prison.

Judge Dawson may be a criminal for what he has done in this case, but what can we say about ourselves if we allow the verminous justice industry to imprison the loveliest and most well-intended among us?

Cindy’s conviction will be appealed after sentencing—and there are innumerable appealable issues with this kangaroo conviction. Go to www.paynoincometax.com to get the full story.

Help us help them

To know Irwin Schiff is to love him—a dedicated activist who, at any moment, could change the mood by performing some of his magic trick schtick.

If America was able to understand the IRS Code, it would be equipped to mount a display of civil disobedience so great that the government would not dare to attach guilt to this man and his former partner Cindy Neun.

But, considering his knowledge of the IRS Code, Irwin is more qualified to be the IRS director than anyone who has ever held the post. But he was just found guilty of income tax-related charges instead—as a sign we need a better plan.

But America’s collective mind glazes over at the mere mention of the complicated code and, out of fear, just pays taxes it doesn’t owe and, out of fear, would never stand behind the likes of Irwin and Cindy in their time of need.

That is why The IO published The People’s Income Tax Guide. The point was to make the tax argument so simple anyone can understand it. Question: Are wages income?" Answer: "No."

Support for this argument is found in all the authorities of the time, all the debates of the time, all the newspaper articles of the time, all the editorial cartoons of the time, all the holding court decisions of the time and in the position paper written by the author of the income tax amendment, Senator Norris Brown (R-Neb.).

It is our sincere belief that, if a million Americans read this interesting, 16-page booklet, the IRS’ income tax goose would be cooked.

So, help us teach America that wages are not income and no one will ever have to learn IRS Code—and help us create the critical mass of public opinion that will vindicate Irwin and Cindy. See ad page 12.