In recent days, it has come to light that the Internal Revenue Service purposefully targeted conservative political groups, especially the Tea Party. Lois Lerner, a senior official at the IRS, issued a public apology, claiming that an influx of applications for the 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status led to shortcuts at the lower levels of the organization. These shortcuts included typing the words “tea party” or “patriot” into the computer to isolate groups that were political. Whether the IRS targeted conservative groups because low level staffers took ill advised short cuts or targeted groups because of their own ideological bias, the results, in the words of President Barack Obama were, “outrageous.”
Conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, Tea Party or NAACP, no individual or group should be targeted because of their political beliefs. In a recent CNN article, Michael Macleod-Ball, chief of staff at the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, and Gabe Rottman, legislative counsel/policy adviser in the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, wrote on the IRS scandal and explained how it affects the individual:
“It also shows how all Americans, from the most liberal to the most conservative, should closely guard their First Amendment rights, and why giving the government too much power to limit political speech will inevitably result in selective enforcement against unpopular groups.”This illegal targeting affected groups all over the United States, including here in New Mexico. According to Rick Harbaugh, the president of the Albuquerque Tea Party, the IRS asked his organization for hundreds of pages of additional documentation nearly two years after the group initially asked for the 501(c)(4) tax exemption. The IRS scandal hits home on several levels. It not only affects local Albuquerque groups, but also threatens every individual’s First Amendment right, the right to free speech. Free Speech should not be punished, and this holds true for the Tea party and every individual; defend one, defend all.
Natalie Reid is a senior at Sandia Preparatory School and is working at the ACLU for her high school senior experience internship.
