The IRS Scandal, Day 1209: 123 Tax Profs Oppose Impeachment/Censure Of John Koskinen

Letter From 123 Tax Professors in Opposition to Impeachment or Censure of IRS Commissioner (Aug. 28, 2016):

We the undersigned 123 tax law professors teach in law schools across America. We teach tax law and respect for the process of law in Utah, Montana, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio as well as in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. and places in between.
We urge you to oppose any resolution to impeach or censure John Koskinen, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

We teach our students how to represent clients in positions adverse to the Internal Revenue Service, but we also teach our students respect for the law and for the IRS. The IRS carries out a vitally important mission for our country. Respect for the IRS fosters the voluntary compliance that is essential for our revenue system to work.

Impeachment or censure will harm the country by weakening our revenue system. Impeachment or censure would disrupt the functioning of the IRS—which has had four Commissioners in as many years—leading to increased tax evasion, reduced revenue collection, and a higher national debt. Impeachment or censure would also set a dangerous precedent and deter talented people from working to improve the country’s struggling revenue system.

We also fear that targeting Commissioner Koskinen will distract the Congress from the vital work of enacting meaningful tax reform. Academics, practitioners, and businesses agree that we must revise our revenue system to rationalize and simplify the rules, and to minimize the collateral costs of raising the necessary revenue.

We believe that nothing that has been reported provides any basis for impeachment or censure. Commissioner Koskinen was called out of retirement when the IRS needed help, and responded for the simple reason that it was the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their country.

We respectfully request that the House reject misguided efforts to impeach or censure Commissioner Koskinen, and focus instead on enacting meaningful reforms to our revenue system.

Sincerely,

			[school for identification only]
1	Utah	Professor Clifton Fleming	J. Rueben Clark Law School, BYU
2	Utah	Professor Nancy A. McLaughlin	Univ. of Utah SJ Quinney College of Law
3	Utah	Assistant Professor Gladriel Shobe	J. Reuben Clark Law School, BYU
4	Idaho	Professor Victoria Haneman	Concordia Univ. School of Law
5	West Virginia	Professor Elaine Wilson	Univ. of West Virginia Law School
6	Kentucky	Professor Jennifer Bird-Pollan	Univ. of Kentucky
7	Kansas	Professor Lori McMillan	Washburn Law School
8	Alabama	Professor Tracey M. Roberts	Cumberland School of Law
9	South Carolina	Assistant Professor Tessa Davis	Univ. of South Carolina School of Law
10	Mississippi	Professor Karen Green	Univ. of Mississippi School of Law
11	Mississippi	Associate Professor Donna R. Davis	Univ. of Mississippi School of Law
12	Montana	Associate Professor Pippa Browde	Univ. of Montana School of Law
13	Montana	Professor Elaine Gagliardi	Univ. of Montana School of Law
14	Oklahoma	Professor Jonathan Forman	Univ. of Oklahoma Law School
15	Nebraska	Professor Emeritus Bill Lyons	Univ. of Nebraska Law School
16	Georgia	Professor Camilla E Watson	Univ. of Georgia Law School
17	Georgia	Associate Professor Lisa Milot	Univ. of Georgia Law School
18	Arizona	Professor Adam Chodrow	Arizona State Univ. College of  Law
19	Arizona	Associate Professor Erin  Scharf	Arizona State Univ. College of  Law
20	Maine	Jeffrey A. Maine	Univ. of Maine School of Law
21	Louisiana	Professor Marjorie Kornhauser	Tulane Law School
22	Louisiana	Professor Philip Hackney	LSU Law Center
23	Missouri	Professor Henry Ordower	St. Louis Univ. School of Law
24	Missouri	Professor Kerry Ryan	St. Louis Univ. School of Law
25	Tennessee	Professor Michelle M. Kwon	Univ. of Tennessee
26	Tennessee	Professor Don Leatherman	Univ. of Tennessee
27	Indiana	Professor Randle B. Pollard	Univ. of Indiana Law School
28	Indiana	Professor Del Wright	Valparaiso Univ. Law
29	Indiana	Professor Joni Larson	Indiana Tech Law School
30	Indiana	Professor Leandra Lederman	Univ. of Indiana
31	Indiana	Professor David Herzig	Valparaiso Law School
32	Indiana	Professor Lloyd Mayer	Notre Dame Law School
33	Nevada	Professor Francine Lipman	Univ. of Nevada Law School
34	Texas	Professor Bryan Camp	Texas Tech Law School
35	Texas	Professor Robert Peroni	Univ. of Texas Law School
36	Texas	Professor Calvin Johnson	Univ. of Texas Law School
37	Texas	Professor Mark Cochran	St. Mary's Law School
38	Texas	Professor Bruce McGovern	Houston Law School
39	Texas	Assistant Professor Susan Morse	Univ. of Texas Law School
40	Texas	Professor Paul Asofsky	Univ. of Houston Law School
41	Texas	Professor Terri Hedge	Texas A&M Law School
42	North Carolina	Professor Richard Schmalbeck	Duke Law School
43	North Carolina	Professor Lawrence Zelenak	Duke Law School
44	Maryland	Professor Fred Brown	Univ. of Baltimore Law School
45	Michigan	Professor  Reuven Avi-Yonah	Univ. of Michigan School of Law
46	Michigan	Professor Linda M. Beale	Wayne State School of Law
47	Colorado	Professor David Hasen	Univ. of Colorado Law School
48	Pennsylvania	Professor Alice G. Abreu	Temple Law School
49	Pennsylvania	Professor David Shakow	Pennsylvania Law School
50	Pennsylvania	Professor Reed Shuldiner	Pennsylvania Law School
51	Pennsylvania	Professor Keith Fogg	Villanova Law School
52	Pennsylvania	Professor Norman Stein	Drexel Law School
53	Pennsylvania	Professor Leslie Book	Villanova Law School
54	Pennsylvania	Professor Jim Maule	Villanova Law School
55	Pennsylvania	Professor Andrea Monroe	Temple  Law School
56	Ohio	Professor Stephanie Hunter McMahon	Univer of Cincinnati College of Law
57	Ohio	Professor Carolyn L. Dessin,	Univ. of Akron Law School
58	Ohio	Professor Stephanie Hoffer	Ohio State Law School
59	Ohio	Professor Deborah A. Geier	Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
60	Florida	Professor Emeritus Joseph Dodge	Florida State College of Law
61	Florida	Professor Charlene Luke	Univ. of Florida Levin College of Law
62	Florida	Professor Elena Maria Marty-Nelson	NSU Nova Law School
63	Florida	Professor Martin J McMahon	Univ. of Florida Levin College of Law
64	Iowa	Professor Carolyn C. Jones	Univ. of Iowa College of Law
65	Iowa	Professor Emeritus Marin Begleiter	Drake Univ. Law School
66	Iowa	Professor Carolyn Jones	Univ. of Iowa Law School
67	Iowa	Professor George Yin	Univ. of Virginia Law School
67	Virgina	Professor Mary Heen	Univ. of Richmond School of Law
68	Virgina	Professor Andrew Hayashi	Univ. of Virginia Law School
69	Virginia	Professor Thomas R. White III	Univ. of Virginia Law School
70	Delaware	Professor Christine D. Allie	Delaware Law School
71	Wisconsin	Professor Susannah Tahk	Univ. of Wisconsin
72	Connecticut	Emerita Professor Toni Robinson	Quinnipac Univ. Law School
73	Oregon	Professor Roberta F. Mann	Univ. of Oregon School of Law
74	Oregon	Professor Jack Bogdanski	Lewis & Clark Law School
75	California	Professor Patricia Cain	Santa Clara Univ. Law School
76	California	Professor Joseph Bankman	Stanford School of Law
77	California	Professor Richard Winchester	Thomas Jefferson School of Law
78	California	Professor Michael B. Lang	Chapman Univ. School of Law
79	California	Professor Theodore P. Seto	Loyola Law School- Los Angeles
80	California	Professor Ellen Aprill	Loyola Law School- Los Angeles
81	California	Professor Edward Kleinbard	Univ. of Southern California
82	California	Professor Katherine Pratt	Loyola Law School- Los Angeles
83	California	Professor Frank J. Doti	Chapman Univ. School of Law
84	California	Professor Bruce Wolk	Univ. of California, Davis
85	California	Professor Jordan Barry	San Diego Law School
86	California	Professor Heather M. Field	Univ. of California Hastings
87	New York	Professor Alan Appel	New York Law School
88	New York	Professor Ann Thomas	New York Law School
89	New York	Professor Brad Borden	Brooklyn Law School
90	New York	Visiting Professor Michael Hirshfeld	Cornell Law School
91	New York	Professor Deborah Schenk	NYU Law School
92	New York	Professor Daniel Shaviro	NYU Law School
93	New York	Professor Victor Zonana	NYU Law School
94	New York	Professor David Pratt	Albany Law School
95	New York	Professor Rebecca Kysar	Brooklyn Law School
96	New York	Professor Linda Galler	Hofstra Univ. Law School
97	Maryland	Professor Fred Brown	Univ. of Baltimore School of Law
98	Massachusetts	Professor Meredith Conway	Suffolk Law School
99	Massachusetts	Professor Ray Madoff	Boston College Law School
100	Massachusetts	Assistant Professor Julian Fray	Northeastern Univ. School of Law
101	Massachusetts	Professor Emeritus Hugh Ault	Boston College Law School
102	Massachusetts	Professor Alan Feld	Boston Univ. Law School
103	Massachusetts	Senior Lecturer Stephen E. Shay	Harvard Law School
104	Massachusetts	Professor Theodore Sims	Boston Univ. Law School
105	New Jersey	Professor Tracy Kaye	Seton Hall Univ. School of Law
106	New Jersey	Professor Cynthia Blum	Rutgers Law School
107	Illinois	Assistant Professor Hayes Holderness	Univ. of Illinois Law School
108	Illinois	Professor Emeritus John Columbo	Univ. of Illinois Law School
109	Illinois	Professor Julie Roin	Univ. of Chicago Law School
110	Illinois	Professor Emily Cauble	DePaul Law School
111	Illinois	Professor Evelyn Brody	Chicago-Kent College of Law
112	Illinois	Professor David Weisbach	Univ. of Chicago Law School
113	Illinois	Assistant Professor Daniel Hemel	Univ. of Chicago Law School
114	Vermont	Professor Stephanie Willbanks	Vermont Law School
115	Washington	Professor Ann Murphy	Gonzaga Law School
116	DC	Professor Ben Leff	American Univ. College of Law
117	DC	Emeritus Professor Ronald A. Pearlman	Georgetown Univ. Law Center
118	DC	Profesor Karen Brown	George Washington Law School
119	DC	Professsor Nancy Abramowitz	American Univ. College of Law
120	DC	Professor Neal Buchanan	George Washington Law School
121	DC	Professor Roger Colinvaux	Catholic Univ. Law School
122	DC	Professor Brian Galle	Georgetown Univ. Law Center
123	DC	Professor Stephen Cohen	Georgetown Law School

• The Hill, Tax Professors Urge House to Reject Impeachment of IRS Chief
• The Surly Subgroup: Tax Professor Letter Opposing Impeachment or Censure of IRS Commissioner Koskinen, by Leandra Lederman (Indiana)

 

• The IRS Scandal, Day 1208 (Aug. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1207 (Aug. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1206 (Aug. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1205 (Aug. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1204 (Aug. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1203 (Aug. 24, 2016) 
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1202 (Aug. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1201 (Aug. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1101-1200 (May 14, 2016 - Aug. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1001-1100 (Feb. 4, 2016 - May 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 901-1000 (Oct. 27, 2015 - Feb. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 801-900 (July 19, 2015 - Oct. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 201