Seize, Sell, Profit: Is the Government Allowed to Snatch a Family’s Home over a Disputed Tax Bill?

In the despotic tradition of officeholders whose self-regard exceeds the bounds of their office, meet Patricia DePriest, tax assessor for Union Township in Isabella County, Mich. DePriest believed a family violated her personal vision of the law and set the wheels in motion to deprive them of their home and savings. And now, her overreach has become a matter for the U.S. Supreme Court.

DePriest’s personal interpretations of the law led to a home valued at $200,000 being seized and sold over a $2,200 tax bill (including interest and fees) that never should have been levied in the first place. It ...