Boosting for #legal and #tech friends. Important and underreported issue.
Black taxpayers were between 2.9 and 4.7 times more likely to be audited by a data-driven audit algorithm. The IRS' response is that they're making tweaks.
This is insufficient.
Answers. Accountability. What happened? How did an algorithm exhibit decidedly human biases?
I reckon Copilot+ PC is going to be a product that an entire class of professional just simply can't purchase or use for work. Thinking of #attorneys, #accountants, etc.
Surely the "features" will be able to be disabled, but can anyone reasonably trust that?
“The IRS finally acknowledged this month what Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy research uncovered in 2023: Racial disparities in taxpayer audit rates have negatively affected Black taxpayers.
The IRS has committed to reevaluating the mechanisms that caused the disparity and refining their compliance approaches—but tweaking the dials on the algorithm is insufficient.”
Though not serving as Trump’s attorney when he appeared as a witness today in Trump’s trial for criminally falsifying business records, Robert Costello is a lawyer, bound by New York’s Rules of Professional Conduct. Costello repeatedly showed his ethical unfitness, violating the most basic principles that inform the entire code. I’ve screenshot the very first paragraph of the entire code, highlighting the most pertinent phrases. 1/ #LawFedi#Ethics#LegalEthics
Section 280E functionally turns the federal income tax into a gross receipts #tax for #marijuana businesses. That might raise some constitutional issues.
"Marijuana businesses face a unique challenge due to the interplay between state legalization and federal tax law. Under Section 280E, businesses that traffic in controlled substances are ineligible for any deductions or credits for amounts paid or incurred in carrying on their trade or business.”
I sympathize with Judge Merchan, who I believe has refrained from jailing Trump to avoid allowing Trump to play the victim and raise money off of that. I also think Merchan probably doesn’t want to interrupt the trial for hearings over whether Trump is causing his sycophantic Republican electeds to say things that violate the gag order. But …. 1/ #LawFedi
"Mansion" taxes are probably not going to ameliorate inequality anytime soon. Tying much-needed public services, like incentivizing the building of affordable housing, to revenue generated from them is not a good idea.
In my column this week I discuss the general idea of injecting progressivity into the property tax regime.
When property values go up, income doesn’t always follow suit. This gives rise to myriad breaks from the FMV—assessment paradigm, which brings with it … problems.
Key it to income. (Property) tax the rich. Full stop.
The Corpus of Resolutions: UN Security Council (CR-UNSC)
✅ 2722 resolutions (1946-2024)
✅ All six UN languages
✅ 82 Variables
✅ Enhanced OCR
✅ Citation Data
✅ #OpenData and #RStats#OpenSource
✅ Formats: CSV, PDF, TXT, GraphML, BibTeX
"Goodwin Procter LLP's chair and managing partner told lawyers and business professionals in an email that the firm would be using new technology to monitor time spent in the office as it looks to promote compliance with its hybrid work policy, the firm confirmed to Law360."
Dozens of fed judges attended wk-long seminars at luxury retreats -receiving free rms, free meals, free $ for travel worth 1000s - & failed to fully disclose as required.
Judges w disclosure issues incl some big names.
Aileen #Cannon, currently presiding over #Trump’s docs case, attended 2wk-long seminars at lux resort near Yellowstone Nat Park...failed to upload disclosure w/in 30 days as required.
Vice taxation (marijuana, gambling, etc.) is being treated by states as "free money" to patch over revenue shortfalls -- while victims of the last great idea (locking up substance users) remain in prison.
Am lamenting anew the refusal by Biden to support Supreme Court reform when Democrats controlled the House and Senate and could have expanded the Court, neutralizing the power of demonstrably corrupt Justice Thomas and the justices appointed after Mitch McConnell illegitimately refused to advance Obama’s nominee to the seat that went eventually to Gorsuch. Elected Democrats must take foundational measures if we are to preserve any sort of meaningful democracy in America. #LawFedi 1/
NEW: #Arizona AG Kris Mayes just announced five of the #Trump officials charged in the Arizona fake electors scheme whose name were redacted in the original indictment:
• John Eastman
• Boris Epshteyn
• Christina Bobb
• Jenna Ellis
• Mike Roman #legal#WompWomp
Honestly, the Supreme Court justices today sounded even more deranged and clueless than I even expected. They are just too worried about hypothetical future presidents to focus on the fact that we have a former president indicted for attempting to overthrow an election who is now running for reelection on an explicitly authoritarian, anti-democracy platform. 1/ #LawFedi
In this week's column I argue for creating a sales tax lottery that incentivizes folks to keep their receipts and scan them into a database -- entering them in a chance to win and reducing the ability to suppress sales on the merchant's end.
On Thursday, the #scotus will be hearing arguments where lawyers for the criminal defendant are arguing that all former presidents are forever immune from criminal prosecution for any official acts done in office.
Failure to respect the election of a new President, is the ultimate crime against the people, who are the basis of government. The President, by constitutional design, should have no role- official or unofficial-in the determination of the people's
vote. Immunity for the crimes here alleged would be most abhorrent to the Framers, because immunity would upset the constitutional scheme and aid a President in overriding the people's power over him.
The Framers would also have been appalled that Trump, despite having left office, seeks permanent immunity. As a Federalist wrote for the Maryland ratifying convention:
It seems, however, that the president may possibly be continued for life. He may so, provided he deserve it.
The Framers did not put an immunity clause in the #Constitution.They knew how to, and they did not. They did not provide immunity to the president. Wasn't the whole point that the president was not a monarch and the president was not supposed to be above the law.