August 28, 2016

The Honorable Paul Ryan

Speaker of the House of Representatives
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Kevin Brady
Chairman
Committee on Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Sander Levin
Ranking Member
Committee on Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
RE: Opposition to Impeachment or Censure of IRS Commissioner
Dear Leaders of Congress:
We the undersigned 123 tax law professors teach in law schools across America. We
teach tax law and respect for the process of law in Utah, Montana, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana,
Nevada, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio as well as in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. and
places in between.
We urge you to oppose any resolution to impeach or censure John Koskinen, the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
We teach our students how to represent clients in positions adverse to the Internal
Revenue Service, but we also teach our students respect for the law and for the IRS. The IRS
carries out a vitally important mission for our country. Respect for the IRS fosters the voluntary
compliance that is essential for our revenue system to work.
Impeachment or censure will harm the country by weakening our revenue system.
Impeachment or censure would disrupt the functioning of the IRSwhich has had four
Commissioners in as many yearsleading to increased tax evasion, reduced revenue collection,
and a higher national debt. Impeachment or censure would also set a dangerous precedent and
deter talented people from working to improve the countrys struggling revenue system.
We also fear that targeting Commissioner Koskinen will distract the Congress from the
vital work of enacting meaningful tax reform. Academics, practitioners, and businesses agree

that we must revise our revenue system to rationalize and simplify the rules, and to minimize the
collateral costs of raising the necessary revenue.
We believe that nothing that has been reported provides any basis for impeachment or
censure. Commissioner Koskinen was called out of retirement when the IRS needed help, and
responded for the simple reason that it was the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of
their country.
We respectfully request that the House reject misguided efforts to impeach or censure
Commissioner Koskinen, and focus instead on enacting meaningful reforms to our revenue
system.
Sincerely,
[school for identification only]
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Utah

Professor Clifton Fleming

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Utah
Utah
Idaho
West Virginia
Kentucky
Kansas
Alabama
South
Carolina
Mississippi
Mississippi
Montana
Montana
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Georgia
Georgia
Arizona
Arizona
Maine
Louisiana
Louisiana
Missouri
Missouri
Tennessee

Professor Nancy A. McLaughlin

Assistant Professor Gladriel Shobe
Professor Victoria Haneman
Professor Elaine Wilson
Professor Jennifer Bird-Pollan
Professor Lori McMillan
Professor Tracey M. Roberts

J. Rueben Clark Law School, BYU

Univ. of Utah SJ Quinney College of
Law
J. Reuben Clark Law School, BYU
Concordia Univ. School of Law
Univ. of West Virginia Law School
Univ. of Kentucky
Washburn Law School
Cumberland School of Law

Assistant Professor Tessa Davis

Professor Karen Green
Associate Professor Donna R. Davis
Associate Professor Pippa Browde
Professor Elaine Gagliardi
Professor Jonathan Forman
Professor Emeritus Bill Lyons
Professor Camilla E Watson
Associate Professor Lisa Milot
Professor Adam Chodrow
Associate Professor Erin Scharf
Jeffrey A. Maine
Professor Marjorie Kornhauser
Professor Philip Hackney
Professor Henry Ordower
Professor Kerry Ryan
Professor Michelle M. Kwon

Univ. of South Carolina School of Law

Univ. of Mississippi School of Law
Univ. of Mississippi School of Law
Univ. of Montana School of Law
Univ. of Montana School of Law
Univ. of Oklahoma Law School
Univ. of Nebraska Law School
Univ. of Georgia Law School
Univ. of Georgia Law School
Arizona State Univ. College of Law
Arizona State Univ. College of Law
Univ. of Maine School of Law
Tulane Law School
LSU Law Center
St. Louis Univ. School of Law
St. Louis Univ. School of Law
Univ. of Tennessee

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Tennessee
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana
Nevada
Texas
Texas
Texas
Texas
Texas
Texas
Texas
Texas
North
Carolina
North
Carolina
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan
Colorado
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Ohio
Ohio
Ohio
Florida
Florida
Florida
Florida

Professor Don Leatherman

Professor Randle B. Pollard
Professor Del Wright
Professor Joni Larson
Professor Leandra Lederman
Professor David Herzig
Professor Lloyd Mayer
Professor Francine Lipman
Professor Bryan Camp
Professor Robert Peroni
Professor Calvin Johnson
Professor Mark Cochran
Professor Bruce McGovern
Assistant Professor Susan Morse
Professor Paul Asofsky
Professor Terri Hedge

Univ. of Tennessee
Univ. of Indiana Law School
Valparaiso Univ. Law
Indiana Tech Law School
Univ. of Indiana
Valparaiso Law School
Notre Dame Law School
Univ. of Nevada Law School
Texas Tech Law School
Univ. of Texas Law School
Univ. of Texas Law School
St. Mary's Law School
Houston Law School
Univ. of Texas Law School
Univ. of Houston Law School
Texas A&M Law School

Professor Richard Schmalbeck

Duke Law School

Professor Lawrence Zelenak

Professor Fred Brown
Professor Reuven Avi-Yonah
Professor Linda M. Beale
Professor David Hasen
Professor Alice G. Abreu
Professor David Shakow
Professor Reed Shuldiner
Professor Keith Fogg
Professor Norman Stein
Professor Leslie Book
Professor Jim Maule
Professor Andrea Monroe
Professor Stephanie Hunter McMahon
Professor Carolyn L. Dessin,
Professor Stephanie Hoffer
Professor Deborah A. Geier
Professor Emeritus Joseph Dodge
Professor Charlene Luke
Professor Elena Maria Marty-Nelson
Professor Martin J McMahon

Duke Law School

Univ. of Baltimore Law School
Univ. of Michigan School of Law
Wayne State School of Law
Univ. of Colorado Law School
Temple Law School
Pennsylvania Law School
Pennsylvania Law School
Villanova Law School
Drexel Law School
Villanova Law School
Villanova Law School
Temple Law School
Univer of Cincinnati College of Law
Univ. of Akron Law School
Ohio State Law School
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
Florida State College of Law
Univ. of Florida Levin College of Law
NSU Nova Law School
Univ. of Florida Levin College of Law

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Iowa
Iowa
Iowa
Iowa
Virgina
Virgina
Virginia
Delaware
Wisconsin
Connecticut
Oregon
Oregon
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
Maryland
Massachusetts
Massachusetts
Massachusetts
Massachusetts

Professor Carolyn C. Jones

Professor Emeritus Marin Begleiter
Professor Carolyn Jones
Professor George Yin
Professor Mary Heen
Professor Andrew Hayashi
Professor Thomas R. White III
Professor Christine D. Allie
Professor Susannah Tahk
Emerita Professor Toni Robinson
Professor Roberta F. Mann
Professor Jack Bogdanski
Professor Patricia Cain
Professor Joseph Bankman
Professor Richard Winchester
Professor Michael B. Lang
Professor Theodore P. Seto
Professor Ellen Aprill
Professor Edward Kleinbard
Professor Katherine Pratt
Professor Frank J. Doti
Professor Bruce Wolk
Professor Jordan Barry
Professor Heather M. Field
Professor Alan Appel
Professor Ann Thomas
Professor Brad Borden
Visiting Professor Michael Hirshfeld
Professor Deborah Schenk
Professor Daniel Shaviro
Professor Victor Zonana
Professor David Pratt
Professor Rebecca Kysar
Professor Linda Galler
Professor Fred Brown
Professor Meredith Conway
Professor Ray Madoff
Assistant Professor Julian Fray
Professor Emeritus Hugh Ault

Univ. of Iowa College of Law

Drake Univ. Law School
Univ. of Iowa Law School
Univ. of Virginia Law School
Univ. of Richmond School of Law
Univ. of Virginia Law School
Univ. of Virginia Law School
Delaware Law School
Univ. of Wisconsin
Quinnipac Univ. Law School
Univ. of Oregon School of Law
Lewis & Clark Law School
Santa Clara Univ. Law School
Stanford School of Law
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Chapman Univ. School of Law
Loyola Law School- Los Angeles
Loyola Law School- Los Angeles
Univ. of Southern California
Loyola Law School- Los Angeles
Chapman Univ. School of Law
Univ. of California, Davis
San Diego Law School
Univ. of California Hastings
New York Law School
New York Law School
Brooklyn Law School
Cornell Law School
NYU Law School
NYU Law School
NYU Law School
Albany Law School
Brooklyn Law School
Hofstra Univ. Law School
Univ. of Baltimore School of Law
Suffolk Law School
Boston College Law School
Northeastern Univ. School of Law
Boston College Law School

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Massachusetts
Massachusetts
Massachusetts
New Jersey
New Jersey
Illinois
Illinois
Illinois
Illinois
Illinois
Illinois
Illinois
Vermont
Washington
DC

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DC
DC
DC
DC
DC
DC
DC

Professor Alan Feld

Senior Lecturer Stephen E. Shay
Professor Theodore Sims
Professor Tracy Kaye
Professor Cynthia Blum
Assistant Professor Hayes Holderness
Professor Emeritus John Columbo
Professor Julie Roin
Professor Emily Cauble
Professor Evelyn Brody
Professor David Weisbach
Assistant Professor Daniel Hemel
Professor Stephanie Willbanks
Professor Ann Murphy
Professor Ben Leff
Emeritus Professor Ronald A.
Pearlman
Profesor Karen Brown
Professsor Nancy Abramowitz
Professor Neal Buchanan
Professor Roger Colinvaux
Professor Brian Galle
Professor Stephen Cohen

Boston Univ. Law School

Harvard Law School
Boston Univ. Law School
Seton Hall Univ. School of Law
Rutgers Law School
Univ. of Illinois Law School
Univ. of Illinois Law School
Univ. of Chicago Law School
DePaul Law School
Chicago-Kent College of Law
Univ. of Chicago Law School
Univ. of Chicago Law School
Vermont Law School
Gonzaga Law School
American Univ. College of Law
Georgetown Univ. Law Center
George Washington Law School
American Univ. College of Law
George Washington Law School
Catholic Univ. Law School
Georgetown Univ. Law Center
Georgetown Law School