Free The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry Page B

what happened between us. I think you will find it enlightening.”

 
    TWELVE
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee
             v.
    ANAN WAYNE HOWELL,
    Defendant-Appellant.
     
    No. 12-2367
    United States Court of Appeals
    Eleventh Circuit.
     
    Anan Wayne Howell has not filed a tax return in nearly two decades. An indictment charged him with four counts of willfully failing to file tax returns in violation of 26 U.S.C. §7203. Howell was present at the start of the trial, but voluntarily absented himself from the rest of the proceedings, eventually fleeing the trial court’s jurisdiction. A jury in the United States District Court, Middle District of Alabama, convicted him, in absentia, and he was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of $12,000.
    Howell is a tax protester. His main argument (presented through his court-appointed counsel) is that he did not need to file tax returns because the 16th Amendment is not part of the Constitution. Howell insists that the amendment was not properly ratified and that his prosecution under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C. Sec. 1 et seq ., was void ab initio . Howell only provided the trial court the briefest of explanations, which did not explain why the 16th Amendment is void beyond stating a wild conclusion that the required number of state legislatures never ratified the amendment and that the Secretary of State in 1913, Philander C. Knox, falsified the certification record.
    Howell sets forth the following contentions: (1) The text Congress transmitted to the states for ratification provided that, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration”; (2) On February 25, 1913, Secretary Knox certified the 16th Amendment was duly ratified, at least 36 states having tendered ratifying resolutions to the State Department; (3) Knox knew that a number of states had not properly adopted the amendment as submitted; (4) Knox knew he was under a duty to instruct those states that they must ratify a conforming version of the amendment; and (5) no conforming ratification ever occurred. Howell asserts that the ratification of the 16th Amendment did not comply with Article V of the Constitution and that therefore the 16th Amendment is non-existent.
    At the outset, we note that the 16th Amendment has been in existence for 100 years and has been applied by the Supreme Court in countless cases. While this alone is not sufficient to bar judicial inquiry, it is persuasive on the question of validity. Thus, for Howell to prevail, we would require, at this late hour, an exceptionally strong showing of unconstitutional ratification. Howell (through his appointed counsel) has made no such showing, only boldly concluding that the amendment was improperly ratified. No evidence has been presented to prove this assertion, nor has Howell cited any factual or legal authority binding on this court (or for that matter on Secretary of State Knox in 1913) for his contention that the 16th Amendment was improperly ratified. In short, Howell has not carried the burden of showing that this 100-year-old amendment was unconstitutionally ratified.
    For all of the foregoing reasons, the conviction of Anan Wayne Howell on all counts is AFFIRMED.
    K IM STOPPED READING FROM THE LAPTOP’S SCREEN.
    After Hana had gone off to bed, he’d again found the opinion dealing with Howell online and studied its wording. While on the run as a fugitive, Howell had published The Patriot Threat as an electronic book. No way had ever existed to physically locate Howell. Larks had been his best bet, and the old man had promised that an introduction would happen.
    But that had not occurred.
    We don’t need foreigners involved.
    He hadn’t expected a rebuke. But Americans could be like that. They exuded an arrogance, a superiority that proclaimed they, above