IRS Incarcerating 84 Year-Old Tax Protester

Like millions of Americans, I loathe the IRS. I dislike them for a number of reasons, but I can't stand their inverse implementation of two integral Common Law principles, the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof. I've had the unfortunate experience of being audited (love how they go after the small businessman but not Big Business), and I can't imagine the nightmare of agents knocking on your door because you don't have health insurance (which will soon occur thanks to Obamacare). That being said, I respect tax law, and I protest the IRS though the legal means of writing, broadcasting, and supporting the FairTax.

Some Americans, on the other hand, protest the IRS by outright refusing to pay taxes. More often than not, these people end up in prison. One such individual, life-long tax protester Irwin Schiff, investor and libertarian activist Peter Schiff's father, is currently serving a 13 year sentence in Indiana. The elder Schiff clearly got himself into his current predicament (he's no stranger to jail time due to tax evasion), but this time the state handed down too harsh a punishment for the crime. Schiff, you see, is 84 years old and has health problems.

House arrest would be more appropriate for the old man. He clearly isn't a flight risk, and he likely isn't getting adequate health care. But the state is making an example of Schiff, and that is simply wrong. Listen to Peter talk about his father's experience: