10th Circuit Rejects Constitutional Challenges to Passport Denial or Revocation for Seriously Delinquent Tax Debt ( 7/20/21)

In Maehr v. United States Dep't of State, ___ F.4th ___, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 21406 (10th Cir. July 20, 2021), CA 10 here, the Court rejected Maehr’s constitution attack on the 2015 FAST Act’s provisions for denying passport issuance and permitting revocation of previously issued passports.  § 7345; 22 U.S.C. § 2714a(e)(1), (2).

Maehr mounted a credible but ultimately unsuccessful claim that these provisions violated constitutional rights based on the right to international travel.  Basically, the Court held that there was no fundamental right to international travel and thus the review was limited to rational basis review which was easily passed because the Government has an interest in collecting taxes.