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Rice v. United States

166 F.3d 1088 (1999)

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Rice v. United States

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
166 F.3d 1088 (1999)

Facts

Jerry Rice (plaintiff) was an accountant and lawyer who was criminally convicted of filing a false tax-return claim. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) publicized Rice’s prosecution and sentence. The press releases contained information about Rice and his taxes, such as the fact that he unlawfully claimed refunds based on falsified withholdings. All of the information contained in the press releases was based on public documents and proceedings, namely, Rice’s public trial and the public rulings from it. Section 6103(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (code) prohibited the IRS from disclosing tax-return information, and § 7431 of the code allowed a taxpayer whose information had been improperly disclosed to sue for damages. Rice sued the United States (defendant), arguing that the information in the press releases was tax-return information and, accordingly, that the press releases were unlawful disclosures notwithstanding the fact that the information in them came from public sources. The district court issued summary judgment in favor of the government, finding that the disclosure of information gleaned exclusively from public sources did not violate § 6103. Rice appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Baldock, J.)

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Casebooks

Tax Practice and Procedure

Key Terms