Professor Chin Comments for Bloomberg News on IRS Hearings
Professor Gabriel "Jack" Chin commented for Bloomberg News regarding legal issues connected to the congressional hearings on the Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny of "Tea Party" and "patriot" groups applying for tax-exempt status. Lois Lerner, who oversaw tax-exempt organizations for the IRS, declined to testify, citing her constitutional right against self-incrimination, leading lawmakers to question whether she could be recalled and required to answer questions.
Professor Chin said that Congress's power to force her to testify would be limited. Lerner could be recalled and required to answer questions that aren't incriminating, but "if it gets anywhere near the issue, she's allowed not to say."
Gabriel "Jack" Chin, who joined the King Hall faculty in 2011, is a prolific and much-cited criminal and immigration law scholar whose work has addressed many of the most pressing social issues of our time.