Friday, May 02, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

ACLU effort to end book ban supported

Friend-of-the-court briefs filed in Schiff case

Several national organizations joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada on Thursday in filing a friend-of-the-court brief that seeks to end the ban of a book written by anti-tax activist Irwin Schiff.

ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein said the involvement of the other groups shows that "this issue isn't simply about Irwin Schiff and his theories, but one that has national significance."

"These groups that represent publishers and authors and booksellers recognize the significance of an attempt by the government to ban a book and are quite concerned about the precedent that it might set," Lichtenstein said.

Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George issued a temporary restraining order March 19 that prevents Schiff from distributing his book, called "The Federal Mafia: How the Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes."

Government attorneys now want George to convert the restraining order to a preliminary injunction.

The following groups joined in the ACLU's brief Thursday: the Association of American Publishers, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Freedom to Read Foundation of the American Library Association, and the PEN American Center.

"We commonly join briefs on important First Amendment issues, and we felt that this case presented such an issue," said New York attorney Jonathan Bloom, who represents the Association of American Publishers.

Bloom said none of the groups who signed the brief are endorsing the book's contents.

"We are endorsing the idea that even misguided or mistaken ideas have the right to be placed in the public arena, and the government doesn't have the right under the Constitution to pick and choose which ideas can see the light of day," he said.

Bloom questioned why government attorneys are challenging the book now, since it was first published 13 years ago.

"We're hoping we can persuade the judge that the temporary restraining order should be lifted and no injunction against sale or distribution of the book be imposed," the attorney said.

He said his client's larger goal "is to try to shape the law in a way that's favorable to the exercise of First Amendment rights of publishers and authors and booksellers," as well as the nation's readers.

The restraining order stemmed from a civil complaint filed by the government against Schiff and two associates.

Government attorneys argue that the defendants have been advocating the "false and frivolous position that paying federal income taxes is voluntary." George's order bars the defendants from disseminating information advocating that position.