Judge Gustafson is an obliging fellow. Remember the boost he gave hapless ol’ Khadija Duma? Read all about it in my blogpost “Go For It”, 1/23/12. Now Judge Gustafson again extends a helping hand, sort of,  in an Order, Docket No. 30786-09, filed 9/18/12, the story of John Carter.

John applied for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Ad Testificandum back in February, but it was denied by then-Chief Judge Colvin, because John hadn’t provided for the costs of bringing him to The Home of the Bean and the Cod (that’s Boston, Mass) from his abode, in order to try his tax case.

Apparently, John was a guest of the people and the government at the time, and needed to be in the courtroom in The Hub to try his case. No go, so C.J. Colvin then handed John’s case over to Judge Gustafson.

Now Judge Gustafson deals with John’s problems. First, he told John to mail a list of his trial witnesses both to the Court and to IRS. John doesn’t bother with IRS (which is probably the root cause of his problems with IRS; IRS gets peevish when ignored), but sends Judge Gustafson the following sad tale: “…the letter does state that Mr. Carter will not be calling any witnesses, because of: financial difficulty; the adverse nature of some potential witnesses; and the logistical difficulty of locating helpful witnesses.” Order, p. 1.

Tough to try a case when you’re in the Stony Lonesome. But remember Robert L. Willson, the hero of Justice Holmes’ (The Judge Who Writes Like a Human Being) famous lecture on basis. See my blogpost “Basis for Dummies”, 11/24/11. IRS kindly waited until Willie was restored to society before trying his case.

But Willie had some barfly witnesses. John has none, as aforesaid. And apparently John may be away longer than Willie.

But Judge Gustafson is willing to go more than halfway: “We point out that, in part because of Mr. Carter’s apparent inability to pay for his own transport to a Boston trial (see order of March 21, 2012), we have scheduled his trial to take place at his prison, which is the most we can do to address his financial difficulty and facilitate his presentation of his case. As for locating helpful witnesses, we note (1) that this case has been pending for more than two and a half years, during which Mr. Carter has not located these witnesses, and (2) that he does not suggest (nor does it appear) that the situation will change in the future.” Order, p. 1.

So Judge Gustafson orders the Clerk of Tax Court to send a copy of John’s missive to IRS, and, lest IRS feel even more neglected, orders John to show  the Court that he’s sending IRS copies of all his correspondence.

And now, Tax Court goes to jail. That’s my kind of court.