Opinion ID: 4529732
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Walby’s Failure to State a Claim

Text: As to her refund claims for the 2016–2018 tax years, the Claims Court found these claims were meritless because Walby is a United States citizen. 4 The Claims Court explained that, under the Fourteenth Amendment, all persons born in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens of the United States as well as of the state in which they reside. The Claims Court found that Walby, a Michigan-born individual, was born in the United States. It also found that the exception to birthright citizenship for individuals not subject to the jurisdiction of the United 4 With respect to Walby’s 2018 refund claim, in its jurisdictional statement, the government states that the Claims Court lacked jurisdiction over this claim because Walby filed her administration refund claim with the IRS before the tax was deemed paid on April 15, 2019 and, as such, the claim was not “duly filed” within the meaning of I.R.C. § 7422(a). Appellee Br. vii. Again, it appears that the government confuses a plaintiff’s need to satisfy certain statutory requirements before being entitled to recover on an asserted claim with the court’s jurisdiction to consider or adjudicate that claim. “‘[T]he absence of a valid (as opposed to arguable) cause of action does not implicate subject-matter jurisdiction, i.e., the court’s statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate the case.’” Verizon Md. Inc. v. Public Serv. Comm’n of Md., 535 U.S. 635, 642–43 (2002) (quoting Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 89 (1998)). We need not address whether Walby’s claim was “duly filed,” however, because we agree with the Claims Court that Walby’s claim is meritless on other grounds. See Morrison v. Nat’l Australia Bank Ltd., 561 U.S. 247, 254 (2010) (declining to remand because “nothing in the analysis of the court[] below turned on the mistake, a remand would only require a new Rule 12(b)(6) label for the same Rule 12(b)(1) conclusion.”) Case: 19-2406 Document: 29 Page: 11 Filed: 04/29/2020 WALBY v. UNITED STATES 11 States did not apply to Walby, noting that her parents were not foreign diplomats at the time of her birth but, like her, were born in Michigan. Thus, the court held that Walby is a citizen of the United States. The court also held that, even if Walby were a non-citizen, she meets the “substantial presence” test for the relevant tax years, making her a United States resident for tax purposes. Walby, 144 Fed. Cl. at 10. On appeal, Walby does not meaningfully challenge the Claims Court’s substantial presence determination. Instead, she argues, as she did before the Claims Court, that she is not a citizen of the United States pursuant to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Appellant’s Br. 5, 21. She argues that she has never been a slave and should never have been classified as a 14th Amendment Citizen because “14th Amendment citizenship was for freed slaves only—none of which exist today.” Id. at 4, 8. She further insists that she has not renounced her United States citizenship, “nor is she required to do so.” Id. at 21. She explains that she has, instead, “simply reclaimed the State citizenship available since 1787, by submitting an ‘Affidavit of Citizenship.’” Id. Walby contends that, pursuant to this affidavit, she has abandoned the default 14th Amendment Citizenship, which was “wrongfully imposed on a free-born State Citizen.” Id. Walby also appears to argue that her “Affidavit of Citizenship” established her “non-citizen National” status because the U.S. Secretary of State accepted it in the course of her passport renewal “without rebuttal or resistance.” Id. at 5. Finally, Walby appears to argue that another notarized affidavit, her December 7, 2016 “Revocation of Case: 19-2406 Document: 29 Page: 12 Filed: 04/29/2020 12 WALBY v. UNITED STATES Election,” establishes her non-citizen status pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6013(g). 5 Id. at 12. Walby’s arguments are unavailing. Under the 14th Amendment, “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. Walby, born in Michigan to parents who were not foreign diplomats and themselves were born in the United States, provides no basis on which she falls outside that language. Walby does not argue, moreover, that she has renounced her United States citizenship pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1481(a). In fact, she states that she is not required to do so. Walby’s other arguments in support of her claim of non-citizen status also fail. To the extent Walby relies on the renewal of her passport as proof of her “non-citizen National” status, no such legal status exists. Further, the excerpted March 11, 2014 letter from the State Department that Walby submitted in support of this argument clearly stated that “a U.S. passport will be issued [to Walby] stating that [she is] a U.S. citizen.” See Appellant Br. 5; Excerpted March 11, 2014 Letter (document bearing number 00173227-0672). 6 Walby’s “Revocation of Election” pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6013(g) fares no better. This statute 5 This “Revocation of Election” was included in Walby’s Informal Appendix, and, unlike the other documents at issue in this appeal, does not appear to have been included as an exhibit to Walby’s complaint. The government does not object to the submission of this document in Walby’s appellate submissions.