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Cohen: Hard Case Makes (Semi) Bad Law, Steve R. Johnson
Cohen: Hard Case Makes (Semi) Bad Law, Steve R. Johnson
Scholarly Publications
The first Justice Harlan famously cautioned that hard cases can lead to bad law. United States v. Clark, 96 U.S. 37, 49 (1878) (dissenting opinion). This aphorism captures the reality that, when confronted with litigating equities strongly favoring one party, judges tend to massage doctrine to support judgment for that party.
Do Treasury And The Irs Have To Explain Their Choices?, Steve R. Johnson
Do Treasury And The Irs Have To Explain Their Choices?, Steve R. Johnson
Scholarly Publications
The validity of tax regulations has been challenged by taxpayers almost as long as there have been tax regulations. Now, however, we are in a period of unusually high activity on this front. The Supreme Court recently upheld the validity of a regulation under section 3121 in Mayo Foundation for Medical Ed. and Research v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 704 (2011); many cases are testing the validity of regulations extending the six-year statute of limitations under section 6501(e) to basis overstatements (or, as the Service would put it, clarifying the law in this regard); and many cases are …