Thirteenth Amendment Ratified 12/6/1865

 Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

The Amendment says:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Three quartters of the state legislatures (27) passed it on this date in 1865 and it became effective immediately.

Unfortunately, the exception clause, which exempted from abolition the use of involutary servitude "as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted". That left open the continued use of chain gangs for incarcerated citizens and for states and private prison companies to make money by leasing out incarcerated citizens as unpaid laborers.

Tax Processing Unit Scam

Letters from

Tax Processing Unit
__________ County Public
Judgment Records
TOLL FREE: (###) ###-####

proclaiming that a

Distraint Warrant

has been issued against you are a scam, phishing attempt, fraud.

I don't usually post outside of family policing law issues here but a client came to me asking about such a letter. When I Googled "Tax Processing Unit, Middlesex County Public, Judgment Records" I saw alerts from a couple of state governments, a couple of out-of-state county governments, and a couple of law firms but none from Massachusetts or any Massachusetts County, so I thought I'd share the alert.

The IRS does have an alert about how to report letters and phone calls that purport to be from the IRS. The Middlesex County Sheriff's Department has a press release about IRS phone scams. I think it might be mail fraud or attempted mail fraud, so I advised the client to report it to their local post office.

Don't call the number listed in the letter. If you do owe taxes to either the IRS or DOR and you haven't already been in touch with them and don't have a payment plan worked out contact them through IRS.gov or Mass.gov/DOR or a phone number listed there to talk to apply only for one or to talk to a legitimate agent. If your issue is complex or involves large amounts of money consider contacting a tax accountant or tax attorney first.

This post is a public service of your local Children's and Family Law attorney and should not be taken as legal or tax advice.