The Readers Digest Version
In his motion to dismiss the indictment against him, Roger Ver has argued that the U.S. 877A Expatriation Tax, is an unjustifiable burden on a constitutionally protected right to renounce his U.S. citizenship. (His motion for dismissal also includes a separate and distinct alternative argument that the 877A expatriation tax is unconstitutional because it creates taxation without a “realization event”. This is the issue that formed the basis of the appeal in the Moore case. I will NOT consider that issue in this post.)
The government in reply has argued that no such constitutional right to renounce U.S. citizenship exists. Additional commentary about the background to the Ver indictment is provided by U.S. lawyer Virginia La Torre Jeker here.
The U.S. Constitution, U.S. Citizenship And Constitutional Issues Surrounding U.S. Citizenship
The 14th Amendment is a constitutional provision that prohibits the U.S. government from stripping U.S. citizens of their citizenship (provided that their citizenship is the result of birth or naturalization in the USA.
The 5th Amendment has been used to argue that there is a constitutional right to relinquish U.S. citizenship. To date no court has expressly ruled that there is a constitutional right to relinquish.
Fortunately, INA 349(a) gives U.S. citizens a statutory right to relinquish their citizenship.
It is an open question whether the U.S. government could prohibit ALL relinquishments of U.S. citizenship.