United States v. Lyle B. Snider, United States of America v. Lyle B. Snider, and Sue T. Snider

CRAVEN, Circuit Judge:

In our view, these are cases of symbolic speech. In No. 73-1939 the defendants declined to participate in the traditional ceremony of rising upon entrance and departure of the presiding judge and were cited for contempt. In No. 73-1938 defendant engaged in hyperbole — claiming 3 billion dependents on a tax withholding form — and was charged with a violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7205. In the latter criminal tax case we hold the government failed to prove an essential element of the offense. In the contempt case we hold that refusal. to rise is not “misbehavior [which] obstruct…