Law Prof and Tax Reform Advocate Susan Pace Hamill Running for Alabama House Seat

Pope Benedict XVI Suggests Tax Policy

From Caritas in Veritate: "One possible approach to development aid would be to apply effectively what is known as fiscal subsidiarity, allowing citizens to decide how to allocate a portion of the taxes they pay to the State. Provided it does not degenerate into the promotion of special interests, this can help to stimulate forms of welfare solidarity from below, with obvious benefits in the area of solidarity for development as well." Hat tip to TaxProf Blog.

Alabama law prof Susan Pace Hamill made her academic reputation by attacking federal, state and local tax policy on faith-based grounds. Hamill's 2002 article, An Argument for Tax Reform Based on Judeo-Christian Ethics, 54 Alabama Law Review 1, 67-68 (2002), received national attention and was named on the list of best ideas by the New York Times in 2003. See also THE LEAST OF THESE: FAIR TAXES AND THE MORAL DUTY OF CHRISTIANS 126 (2003) (condemning Alabama’s current tax structure as unethical under Judeo-Christian principles, and calling on Alabamians to support tax reform), The Vast Injustice Perpetuated by State and Local Tax Policy, 37 Hofstra Law Review 117 (2008) and An Evaluation of Federal Tax Policy Based on Judeo-Christian Ethics, 25 Virginia Tax Review 671 (2006) (criticizing the federal tax policy trends of the Bush administration).

This former theology student found Hamill's arguments convincing. Applying in my opinion a non-controversial interpretation of justice as defined by Judeo-Christian principles to federal, state and local tax policies, Hamill repeated makes the point that people are tolerating unjust tax policies that are oppressing our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Whether tax laws and policies in a civil society should be challenged on faith-based grounds is another matter. However, it is clear that Hamill's work has never been merely an intellectual exercise. Now Hamill is taking her arguments to Bible belt voters; she has announced that she running for an Alabama House seat. What are her chances? Don't know but it should be an interesting election campaign because, according to Wikipedia's Bible belt entry, 94% of the population in Alabama claim to be religious.

Hat tip to TaxProf Blog. [JH]