Immigration "Justice"

Jackson Dave,

reporting from Los Angeles

Many of you may have missed this. Akio and Fukado Kawashima came to Southern California from Japan in 1984. They (legally) operated three popular sushi restaurants in The Valley and Thousand Oaks. Like many good citizens, they under-reported their income in 1991. For this they paid a hefty $245,000 for back taxes, interest and penalties, along with four months in prison. Nothing too interesting here.

Where this picks up steam is, in mid-February the U. S. Supreme Court, our Uber-watchdog of Republican (Party) interests, handed down a 6 – 3 ruling which allowed the INS to declare such a miscue an “aggravated felony.” Aggravated felony includes crimes of “fraud or deceit” that cost the miscreant more than $200,000; this subjects the offender(s) to automatic deportation.

The couple’s appeal went through the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals, then to the Supreme Court. Still sounds pretty ho-hum, you say? Well, speaking for the court was our own Prince of Darkness, The Honorable Clarence Thomas, Esq., Mr. Mum: “…the Kawashimas knowingly and willingly submitted a tax return that was false and therefore had committed a felony that involved deceit.” ---off with their heads!

Ok, the kicker: six months ago, the IRS discovered that, Virginia Thomas earned over $680,000 from that venerable, conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, over five years, a group says. But Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas did not include it on their financial disclosure forms.

"It wasn't a miscalculation; he simply omitted his wife's source of income for six years, which is a rather dramatic omission," Gillers said. "It could not have been an oversight."

The Supreme Court is "the only judicial body in the country that is not governed by a set of judicial ethical rules," Gillers added.

Some quick mental calculations give us unreported income of $680k, with a marginal tax rate for a couple in this bracket around 30% Federal, would yield a tax of approximately $204,000, plus five years of compounded interest and penalties. Get the picture? Justice Thomas should be deported to the closest Federal penitentiary and impeached for high crimes and “aggravated felonies.”

Number One: Thomas should have recused himself from the case.

Two: This man rarely speaks out on anything. What sordid irony would bring him to announce the decision?

Three: This man is a menace to our country, if not our society.

Four: What will it take to bring this court to its robed knees?

Five: For those who think George H. W. Bush was a pretty decent president, think again. Thomas is still only 63.

Regrets due here, as your editor is speechless in the face of indignation that accompanies this story: “Words fail me, my lords. Nothing that I might utter could possibly match the depth of my feelings on this matter.”

Jackson Dave is a Robbinsense staff writer