Hudson Valley Black Press v. Internal Revenue Service

KORMAN, Chief Judge.

This appeal from a judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (William C. Conner, Judge) squarely presents the issue whether taxpayers may seek to recover damages against employees of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for undertaking an audit in retaliation for the exercise by a taxpayer of rights protected by the First Amendment. Specifically, in its complaint, the dismissal of which is the subject of this appeal, the Hudson Valley Black Press (“HVBP”), the publisher of a newspaper that focuses on issues of interest to…