This is the landing page for my fortnightly newsletter, Jack Straw, which will be posted in .pdf format.
volume 1, number 6
| volume_one_number_six.pdf |
With issue six, we test the limits of the asterisk signifying "or occasional." A sort of mixed bag here of IRS notices, state legislation, oral argument on an appeal from the Tax Court, and the new ACGA rates. It's good to be back.
| section_11051.pdf |
| crpt-115hrpt-_466_excerpt.pdf |
| majority_summary_excerpt.pdf |
| hc_16_page_9.pdf |
volume 1, number 5
| volume_one_number_five.pdf |
In issue five, we take a break from the long form essay for a couple of shorter pieces, one analyzing a pair of recent letter rulings dealing with the consequences of the misreporting of split gifts to trusts with skip potential, and another briefly discussing a recent Tax Court decision disallowing on what might be seen as a technicality a claimed deduction for the contribution of a conservation easement.
| opening_brief_reri.pdf |
| e-mail_to_committee_re_sb_311_hearing_032818.pdf |
| e-mail_to_french_re_sb_311_consent_calendar_report.pdf |
volume 1, number 4
| volume_one_number_four.pdf |
In issue four, we discuss the recent settlements in five federal lawsuits arising from IRS' use of "inappropriate criteria" to select several hundred applications for exempt status -- mostly from (c)(4) advocacy orgs -- for "heightened scrutiny" to ascertain whether these might be engaged more than insubstantially in political activity. The Justice Department says we are done, but there are still, shall we say, a couple of loose ends.
| amended_complaint_z_street.pdf |
| z_street_application_122809.pdf |
| response_to_ltr_1312.pdf |
| gentry_affidavit.pdf |
| waddell_affidavit.pdf |
| memo_opposing_motion_to_dismiss.pdf |
| memo_not_moot.pdf |
| memo_supporting_motion_to_dismiss.pdf |
| proposed_consent_order.pdf |
| modified_consent_order.pdf |
| linchpins_of_liberty_consent_order_102717.pdf |
| true_the_vote_consent_order_012118.pdf |
| freedom_path_070717.pdf |
| freedom_path_112817.pdf |
| norcal_class_certified.pdf |
| norcal_motion_protective_order.pdf |
| norcal_order_051817.pdf |
| norcal_summary_judgment_motion_memo.pdf |
| norcal_motion_to_seal.pdf |
| norcal_enquirer_motion_to_unseal.pdf |
| norcal_amicus_ohio.pdf |
| norcal_amicus_judicial_watch.pdf |
| lerner_e-mail_to_ingram_012210.pdf |
| lerner_e-mail_to_paterson_110212.pdf |
volume 1, number 3
| volume_one_number_three.pdf |
In the third issue, we look at the Craig Trust controversy now pending argument before the New Hampshire supreme court, and at an eleventh-hour effort to control the outcome through legislation. SB 311 would "clarify" a 2004 statute importing the rules of construction applicable to wills into the trust code, by carving out the pretermitted heirs statute.
| interlocutory_transfer_order.pdf |
| opening_brief_craig.pdf |
| response_brief_craig.pdf |
| reply_brief_craig.pdf |
| amicus_brief_craig.pdf |
| 012104_hearing_hb1224.pdf |
| 041304_hearing_hb1224.pdf |
| 010918_hearing_sb311.pdf |
| sc_7_page_2.pdf |
volume 1, number 2
| volume_one_number_two.pdf |
In the second issue, we examine the decision of the 10th Circuit federal appeals court in Green v. United States, No. 16-6371, reversing an Oklahoma district court that had allowed a trust an income tax charitable deduction under section 642(c) at fair market value for a contribution of appreciated property that had been purchased, it was said, from prior years' income. Copies of the trial court decision and of the briefs on appeal are posted here as well, together with excerpts of the record on appeal discussed in the newsletter.
| 01237_doc_48.pdf |
| green_opening_brief.pdf |
| green_response_brief.pdf |
| green_reply_brief.pdf |
| green_surreply.pdf |
| explanation.pdf |
| 8283s.pdf |
| driskill_memo.pdf |
volume 1, number 1
| volume_one_number_one.pdf |
The first issue, posted here, focuses on the decision of the New Hampshire supreme court in Hodges v. Johnson, No. 2016-0130 (12/12/17), affirming the result, if not the rationale, of a probate court order setting aside a series of purported decantings from two irrevocable trusts and removing the co-trustees. Copies of the trial court decision and of the briefs on appeal are posted here as well, together with the motion for rehearing and the objection to that motion.
| trial_court_order_hodges.pdf |
| opening_brief_hodges.pdf |
| response_brief_hodges.pdf |
| reply_brief_hodges.pdf |
| amicus_brief_hodges.pdf |
| motion_for_rehearing_hodges.pdf |
| objection_to_motion_for_rehearing_hodges.pdf |
| motion_for_leave_to_reply_to_objection_hodges.pdf |
| objection_to_motion_for_leave_to_reply_hodges.pdf |
| rehearing_denied_hodges.pdf |
| morse_v._kraft_466_mass._92__2013_.pdf |