For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences … Accusation against King George in the Declaration of Independence

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.   Article III, section 2, United States Constitution

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.  Sixth Amendment

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.  Seventh Amendment

I returned to Canada in 1994, finished my PhD in 1996, and began to work a little.  Eventually, my much more successful wife and I were able to come up with some savings:  RRSP, TFSA, investment accounts, etc.  It is a good life here in Canada, and that is nice, since I had a really late start.

Enter FBAR, a United States law that requires me to inform the Treasury of my bank accounts.  I’ve never filled one out.  What if the United States government wanted to fine me 50% per annum of  the balances in my bank accounts?  Do I not deserve a trial by jury of my peers in the district wherein the pretended crime was committed?  I seriously doubt that an Ontario jury would find me guilty of failing to file FBARs nor would it find that I had done anything deserving of fines payable to the Treasury of the United States.

According to the United States, I don’t have a right to trial by jury in the district where the crime took place.  The trial would have to take place in Washington D. C. in violation of my Sixth Amendment right.  I maintain that the “crime” of not filling out FBAR occured here in Ontario, where I have lived since 1994.  But the United States federal government has no courts here.  Nor is the United States able to compel a jury  to try me here.  I guess that ends the story.  To make me appear in Washington, would be the same as King George transporting colonists to Britain for pretended crimes.

In Washington, I would not get a fair trial.  Let’s face it:  what jury in the District of Colombia would ever take my side?  Their jobs and livelihood depends on the success of taxation and the laws associated with it.

So I propose to you this:  Against Americans living abroad, the FBAR law is not enforceable in a constitutional manner.  To enforce it, the United States would have to commit the same kind of tyrannies that the King of England perpetrated against the thirteen colonies:

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.