Tuesday, April 08, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Schiff seeks judge's removal

Antitax advocate claims federal jurist demonstrated bias

Irwin Schiff Activist seeks judge's removal from federal tax case

Antitax activist Irwin Schiff and his attorneys have filed a motion seeking to remove a judge from Schiff's federal tax case in Las Vegas.

Schiff and his attorneys argue that U.S. Senior District Judge Lloyd George demonstrated bias when he issued a temporary restraining order last month preventing Schiff from distributing his book, "The Federal Mafia: How the Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes."

"He said my ideas are ridiculous, that they are silly," Schiff said Monday. "That shows he's already prejudged the case."

Schiff's new motion stems from a civil complaint the government filed against Schiff, who advocates the idea that paying federal income tax is not mandatory.

He also has given advice to many people on how to file what are known as zero income tax returns.

The U.S. Attorney's Office asked George to issue an order preventing Schiff from advocating his "false and frivolous" positions.

George issued the order March 19 and it has since drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, which has expressed concerns that Schiff's First Amendment rights are being violated.

"We are taking no position on whether Mr. Schiff's positions on the IRS are true or false," ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein said.

"What we are mostly concerned with is the idea of totally banning books," he said, adding that such an action constitutes "the most insidious form of censorship."

A hearing was scheduled for Monday to determine whether the temporary restraining order should be extended into a preliminary injunction. However, as a result of Schiff's motion, further proceedings in the case were rescheduled for Thursday.