''United States v. Sullivan'', 274 U.S. 259 (1927), is a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case that allowed prosecution of criminals for

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

evasion notwithstanding the Fifth Amendment. The case also served as the legal test for prosecution of

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

for

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

Mabel Walker Willebrandt Mabel Walker Willebrandt (May 23, 1889 – April 6, 1963), popularly known to her contemporaries as the First Lady of Law, was a U.S. Assistant Attorney General from 1921 to 1929, handling cases concerning violations of the Volstead Act, federal ...

. Willebrandt theorized illegally earned income was subject to income tax, and she tested her theory using Sullivan. Once the theory was found sound, she moved to prosecute Capone in 1931.

Background

In the 1920s, during the

Prohibition Era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

, the successful prosecution of prominent organized crime bosses was nearly impossible because of

witness intimidation Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Witness tampering and reprisals against witnesses in organized crime cases have been a difficult ...

and the lack of written records.

, then an

in charge of enforcing the Volsted Act, recognized that the figures publicly led lavish lifestyles but never filed tax returns and so might be prosecuted for that failure without testimony being required about the specific crimes that enriched them. The first person prosecuted under that theory was Manley Sullivan, a South Carolina bootlegger. Sullivan's lawyers argued that filing a tax return on illegal income would amount to

self-incrimination In criminal law, self-incrimination is the act of exposing oneself generally, by making a statement, "to an accusation or charge of crime; to involve oneself or another ersonin a criminal prosecution or the danger thereof". (Self-incrimination ...

and so he was therefore protected by the Fifth Amendment. Sullivan was convicted in federal court, but the

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

reversed the decision on Fifth Amendment grounds.

Decision

Justice

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.Holmes was Acting Chief Justice of the Un ...

wrote for the court. He noted that the

Revenue Act of 1921 The United States Revenue Act of 1921 (ch. 136, , November 23, 1921) was the first Republican Party of the United States, Republican tax reduction following their landslide victory in the U.S. House election, 1920, 1920 federal elections. New Secret ...

provided that gross income includes "gains, profits, and income derived from... the transaction of any business carried on for gain or profit, or gains or profits and income derived from any source whatever." Although the 1913 version of law had included the word "lawful" before "business," Congress removed the word "lawful" in 1921. Holmes rejected the Fifth Amendment argument by saying that a defendant who believed information required on the tax form to incriminate him could raise that issue on the form but could not simply refuse to file. Holmes dispatched another objection:

It is urged that, if a return were made, the defendant would be entitled to deduct illegal expenses, such as bribery. This by no means follows, but it will be time enough to consider the question when a taxpayer has the temerity to raise it.

Aftermath

Many criminals (and others) have since been prosecuted for tax evasion. In particular,

was convicted in 1931. Publication 17 of the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

still notes that " come from illegal activities," including money from dealing illegal drugs or

bribes Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...

received, must be included in the declaration of one's income.IRS Publication 17
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Fifth Amendment crimpro, self, state=expanded United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Taft Court United States Fifth Amendment self-incrimination case law 1927 in United States case law Prohibition in the United States

Background

Decision

Aftermath

See also

References

External links