Church v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court
In 1959, petitioner Wade E. Church, attorney general for the State of Arizona, delivered a speech to the American Federation of Labor convention held in Flagstaff, Ariz. In the speech, he criticized the influence exerted by certain lobbyist groups on the Arizona State Legislature. Several days later, the Arizona Republic, a daily newspaper out of Phoenix, Ariz., published a front-page editorial labeling petitioner a "communist." Petitioner sued the publisher for defamation.
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In 1959, petitioner Wade E. Church, attorney general for the State of Arizona, delivered a speech to the American Federation of Labor convention held in Flagstaff, Ariz. In the speech, he criticized the influence exerted by certain lobbyist groups on the Arizona State Legislature. Several days later, the Arizona Republic, a daily newspaper out of Phoenix, Ariz., published a front-page editorial labeling petitioner a "communist." Petitioner sued the publisher for defamation. After protracted litigation, petitioner received an award of $ 250,000 for compensatory damages, $ 235,000 for punitive…
1Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Fay, Judge:
Respondent determined a $177,995.70 deficiency in petitioners’ 1976 Federal income tax. The only issues for our decision are (1) whether petitioner Wade E. Church is entitled to exclude from his gross income compensatory damages of $250,000 received as a result of a favorable jury verdict in a defamation suit, and (2) the extent to which attorneys’ fees and costs paid in the course of litigation are deductible.
All the facts are stipulated and found accordingly.
Petitioners Wade E. Church and Margaret Church resided in Phoenix, Ariz., at the time their petition was filed…
2Cases cited11 opinions
- United States v. GilmoreSupreme Court of the United States · 1963
- Woodward v. CommissionerSupreme Court of the United States · 1970
- Raytheon Production Corp. v. Commissioner of Int. Rev.Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · 1944
- Mason K. Knuckles and Bernice A. Knuckles v. Commissioner of Internal RevenueCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 1965
- Seay v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1972
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3Cited by72 opinions
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- Paul F. Roemer, Jr. And Marcia E. Roemer v. Commissioner of Internal RevenueCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1983
- Robinson v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1994
- Metzger v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1987
- James Edward Bent v. Commissioner of Internal RevenueCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 1988
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