Author Archives: CSU|LAW

Professor Plecnik Quoted in Tax Notes Article

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John Plecnik

Professor John Plecnik

Professor John Plecnik was quoted in an article in Tax Notes, published on December 28, 2015.  Professor Plecnik’s quotes are reproduced below:

Fraud, the standard for the 10-year ban, isn’t applied often — it’s a high standard with a strong definition, said John Plecnik of Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. The issue is with the standard for reckless or intentional disregard of the rules, he said. The IRS treats that standard “like the Supreme Court treats pornography — we know it when we see it,” he said.

There are no regulations under section 32(k) defining the standard for recklessness or intentional disregard of the rules, case law is sparse, and the IRS has not issued any guidance on the point, Plecnik wrote in a 2014 Tax Notes article about the EITC ban (“Reckless Means Reckless: Understanding the EITC Ban,” Tax Notes, Feb. 24, 2014, p. 847 (Doc 2014-2409)).

“We have not essentially figured out as a tax bar how to apply 32(k) and its ban appropriately to the earned income tax credit,” Plecnik told Tax Analysts. “And to extend it to the child tax credit and the American opportunity tax credit before we’ve agreed on the definition of reckless — the standard of conduct that triggers the penalty — I think it’s irresponsible.”

Absent IRS action, the best option clinics and taxpayers have for challenging application of the bans and the definition of recklessness is in Tax Court, Plecnik said. He said he would want a clinic to file a regular case, not a small case, when making a challenge. There have been small cases on these issues, but not a regular case with all issues being raised to the court so that the judge on the case or the full court can address the really significant issue of when applying the ban is appropriate, he said.

A clinic could win a challenge based solely on legislative history of section 32(k) from 1997, Plecnik said. He said that based on that history, he believes Congress intended the same definition of reckless or intentional disregard in section 6662 to apply to section 32(k), which contains the EITC ban.

“I would be shocked if the Tax Court did not agree with the legislative history,” he said. “It’s a pretty clear-cut case.”

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Under the new law, the IRS will also have math error authority to use in reviewing returns of taxpayers who have been banned from claiming any of the three refundable credits for the length of the taxpayer’s ban, Plecnik said. While taxpayers can appeal an IRS determination to revise their return based on math error authority under section 6213, many low-income taxpayers don’t read or understand mail they get from the IRS, and so they may lose their 60-day appeal window, Plecnik said. In that case, he said, the only way they can get their money back is to sue for a refund, which requires them to pay the tax upfront. For many poorer taxpayers, that’s “functionally impossible,” he said.

“So many taxpayers are never even going to get to Tax Court, particularly because of this math error authority,” he said.

The full article is available here:  Tax Notes Today, 12.28.15, Plecnik

 

Together in the Struggle: Hands-On Learning through Research Labs | Claire Robinson May, Amy Burchfield & Brian Cassidy |

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Professor Claire May presented jointly with Amy Burchfield and Brian Cassidy at the Legal Writing Institute 1-Day Workshop at Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University on Friday, December 11. The conference theme was Collaboration In and Out of the Legal Writing Classroom.Claire May Presentation 1

According to Professor May, “In this session, we discuss our use of research labs to develop our students’ 21st century legal research skills. Our teaching group – two librarians and a legal writing professor – collaborates to identify needed legal research skills and then designs exercises to hone these skills. The lab sessions require students to sometimes struggle with a learning-by-doing approach towards the goal of gaining competency with research concepts and strategies. Students receive comprehensive feedback documents and ongoing encouragement. Our goal is to teach efficient and effective research in the current online research environment, rather than a traditional source by source methodology.”

Claire May 2

Professor Sterio’s Book Review Published by Melbourne Journal of International Law

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Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio reviewed “Self-Determination and Secession in International Law” (edited by Christian Walter, Antje von Ungern-Sternberg and Kavus Abushov) (Oxford University Press 2014).  Professor Sterio’s book review was published by Melbourne Journal of International Law, in Issue 1, Volume 16 (2015).

Professor Robertson’s Article on Drill Permits and Ohio Zoning Laws Published by Crain’s Cleveland Business

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Heidi Gorovitz Robertson-1

Professor Heidi Gorovitz Robertson

Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor of Law, published another article with Crain’s Cleveland Business.  Professor Robertson’s article is entitled “We still don’t know if a drill permit trumps a zoning law in Ohio,” and it is available here.  Professor Robertson is a regular contributor to Crain’s Cleveland Business, where her energy guest columns are published periodically.

Professor Witmer-Rich Quoted on NPR’s All Things Considered

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Professor Jonathan Witmer–Rich was quoted on Wednesday, December 2, on NPR’s All Things Considered, as part of a story titled, “Answering the Tough Question of Who Polices the Police.”  He noted that prosecutors seem to handle police shooting cases differently from how they approach ordinary cases, and highlighted the potential conflict of interest local prosecutors face when considering filing charges against local police.  The story is available here.

Professor Sterio Participates in Happy Dog Takes on the World Discussion on UN Sustainability Goals

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Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio spoke at a panel discussion on December 1 at The Happy Dog entitled “UN Sustainability Goals – Can 17 Initiatives Transform the World.”  This event was organized by the City Club of Cleveland as part of the “Happy Dog Takes on the World” series; the event was co-sponsored by the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, WCPN 90.3/Ideastream, the Northeast Ohio Consortium for Middle East Studies, and International Partners in Mission.  The other panelists included WCPN host and producer, Tony Ganzer,  as moderator, Ben Fitch-Fleischmann, Assistant Professor of Economics & Environmental Studies, Oberlin College, and Amanda McCoy, Principal, Eclatant Consulting.
The event link is available here, and a podcast of the program is available at this link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cityclub/production/pc/podcasts/CityClubPodcast12.1.15.mp3?1449073700.

Professor Broering-Jacobs Presents at GrantsPlus

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Legal Writing Professor Carolyn Broering-Jacobs

Legal Writing Professor and Director of the Legal Writing Program, Carolyn Broering-Jacobs, presented to a group of grant writers at GrantsPlus, a grant writing firm founded by Cleveland-Marshall alumna Lauren Steiner. The presentation, entitled The Power of Peer Assessement, was a part of the GrantPlus Power Writing Program.

Professor Kalir Publishes a Guest Post on the American Constitutional Society Blog

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Clinical Professor of Law Doron M. Kalir published a blogpost on the American Constitutional Society (ACS) Blog. The post analyzes DIRECTV v. Imburgia, a case heard earlier this Term by the Supreme Court, which has yet to be decided. The post – entitled Another Brick in the (No Access to Justice) Wall? – touches briefly on issues of class action, consumer protection, federalism, and the Roberts Court in general. The post can be found here.

Dean Sundahl Advises FAA on Building a Lunar Village and Foreign Launch Capabilities

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Last month C|M|LAW’s Associate Dean Mark Sundahl chaired the meeting of the International Space Policy Working Group at the biannual meeting of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C.  The working group addressed a number of current issues that are currently faced by the FAA as it develops the regulatory regime for a new era of space activity.  Among the topics raised were the potential participation of U.S. commercial entities in the European effort to build a “Lunar Village” and the opening of the U.S. market to launch services provided by ISRO, the Indian space agency.  The debates around these issues were captured in the following articles:

 

 

Professor Buckner Inniss Blogs on Yale Halloween Controversy

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Professor Lolita Buckner Inniss published a blog post entitled “Kids Just Want to Have Fun (In a World Turned Upside Down)” on her blog, Ain’t I A Feminist Legal Scholar Too?  In this blog post, Professor Inniss comments on the recent controversy sparked by an email sent by a Yale University lecturer, decrying the Yale administrators’ earlier message to Yale students, cautioning them against wearing certain types of offensive or insensitive Halloween costumes.   Portions of this blog post were reprinted in The Atlantic magazine, in on online reader debate following an article on the same subject-matter that had been published by the magazine.