Ronald Conner of Grand Prairie, Tx., hasn’t been charged with a crime, but he has been locked up for 16 months and he could be there for a lot longer, the Dallas Morning News reports.Exactly how long the 55-year-old truck driver should remain in lockup is the subject of a legal battle in Fort Worth federal court. Conner ignored a judge’s order to respond to an IRS summons and he was jailed for contempt of court. A government lawyer would like his jail stay to continue. She cited cases in which people have spent years behind bars for civil contempt. An investment manager sat behind bars for seven years for refusing to turn over $15 million in gold and antiquities.
Federal law sets an 18-month limit for civil contempt. Some courts have freed people earlier, ruling that confinement must end after it has lost its coercive effect, which is the legal standard. Other courts have made exceptions and allowed people to remain in jail. In Texas, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor is considering when Conner might go free. Conner is a so-called “sovereign citizen” and tax protester who owes taxes dating back to 2002. The Arkansas native learned about the movement about two years ago. Sovereign citizens claim that paying taxes is voluntary and that the government is fraudulently trying to hide that from the people. Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism said he’s never heard of any adherents serving as much time as Conner for civil contempt. “He is making a voluntary decision. It’s not like he’s being forced to be in there,” Pitcavage said. “He could at any minute comply. In that sense, I don’t have any sympathy for him.” The IRS issued Conner a summons in 2016 to provide records to begin the collection process.