Immigrants Have Privacy Right in Tax Files, Colo. High Court Says
Prosecutors improperly searched tax records for evidence that undocumented immigrants had used others’ Social Security numbers, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled.
The prosecutors served a search warrant last year on a tax preparer’s office in Greeley, Colo., looking through 5,000 files to charge more than 70 people with identity theft and criminal impersonation, according to the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. In a 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court said the search violated the Fourth Amendment.
“A taxpayer has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her tax returns and return information, even when that information is in the custody of a tax preparer,” the majority opinion said.
The decision affirmed a ruling by a lower court judge who said the warrant sought “nothing more than an exploratory search based upon suspicion that some unknown person or persons” committed a crime.
