Something you can do to help...

Friends,

Many of you who are aware of the situation in which my mother has found herself of late have expressed a desire to help in any way you can (those of you who are not aware, click here).  Well, I have just found a way.

Below is a likeness of the letter I sent to a local State Representative.  What you can do is substitute yours and your own Representative's and/or Senator's names, and send it to them.  The most we can do at this point is raise awareness for my mother's plight, and hope that such awareness will place pressure on our government and judiciary (the case will be up for appeal shortly) to do what is right, instead of what is convenient.

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Thank you all,

~Katie

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____________________:

I'm uncertain as to whether you're aware of the attack on American citizen Doreen Hendrickson that's been occurring for some 8 years at this point, but I'd like to inform you of it now. In 2007, the federal government requested that a federal judge order Mrs. Hendrickson to change the testimony on two of her tax forms. Without ever having proposed any dispute with Mrs. Hendrickson's forms beforehand--in tax court, by audit, by notice of deficiency or even so much as a letter--and in fact, after having first agreed with her forms after subjecting them to considerable scrutiny, the government simply asked a judge to order her to change what it had then decided was testimony inconvenient to its purposes.

Therefore, rather than taking Mrs. Hendrickson to tax court to sort out the pretended dispute in question (“pretended” because the government has never actually made any official statement of disagreement with Mrs. Hendrickson's forms), as would be the proscribed, and legal, course of action, the government simply asked the judge to tell her, essentially, “I don't care what you believe, or what the proper legal proceedings in this case might be, you'll just have to change your own testimony and evidence in the case to suit the government's desires.” When Mrs. Hendrickson of course refused to do so, as this would be a violation of both her 1^st and 5^th Amendment rights--the right to free speech and the right to defend one's own interests in a legal contest--the judge held her in contempt of court, for which she was convicted (after an initial aforementioned “mistrial” that resulted in a hung jury) in July of 2014.

Now, all of this may sound like something out of a dystopian science fiction novel, and quite frankly, it should. The idea that our federal government would presume to tell an American citizen (or anyone, for that matter) that he/she cannot give freely-made testimony if said government finds such testimony inconvenient is appalling, even frightening. If this blatant disregard for the U.S. Constitution goes unnoticed and unaddressed, it does not bode well for the protection of our other rights.

Of course, the most commonly-raised point upon hearing this seemingly fantastical story is, “But...it was a tax form, right?” However, a tax form is merely an instrument for stating testimony, hence the clause above the signature that the information therein is “true to the best of [one's] knowledge or belief].” If this or any testimony can be dictated by another party, how can it possibly be trusted or valid? The mafia used to force confessions and certain testimony that suited its purposes; has our government really gone so far as to adopt the practices of the mob? If a party in a legal contest truly has a solid case, it should not require the opposing party to change its evidence in the case. It can therefore be presumed that the government does not in fact have confidence in the argument it would have to make against Mrs. Hendrickson's word, and must therefore resort to tampering and coercion. And if it is willing to do so in this case, why not others? If this practice goes unfettered, no court decision made from this point forward can be trusted, for what reason would we have to trust the evidence used to make it? If this ruling is allowed to stand, there can be no promise of justice in our country.

When the federal government acts outside the confines provided to it by the U.S. Constitution, or ignores the Constitution entirely, it is the responsibility of the States to return it to its place, as they have done in the past. During the time of the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison penned resolutions for the states of Virginia and Kentucky, respectively, saying, “...states...are in duty bound, to interpose against the evil, and for maintaining withing the respective limits, the authorities, rights, and liberties,” (Jefferson) and, “...whensoever the [federal] government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.” (Madison) An act of total dismissal of the Constitution does, I believe, qualify as evil, and an assumption of undelegated powers, those powers not including the ability to encroach upon an American citizen's constitutional rights.

Therefore, ___________, I encourage you to stand up against this blatant abuse of power, and obvious disregard for the rule of law. Uphold your oath and defend your fellow Americans from the creeping tendrils of a government grown far too big for anyone's good but its own, before it chokes the life out of all we hold dear in this great country of ours. Encourage those in the legislature with you, and even the governor and attorney general themselves, and the entirety of the state government, to do their duty by Mrs. Hendrickson, by all Americans, and by Justice itself.

Thank you,

________________________

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