United States v. John Bruner

366 F. App'x 722

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: February 25, 2010
• Docket: 09-1677
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

John D. Bruner appeals the district court’s 1 adverse grant of summary judgment in this action by the United States to reduce to judgment unpaid federal tax assessments against Bruner, to foreclose fed eral tax liens on real property owned by Bruner, and to obtain a judicial sale of the property. After careful de novo review, see Johnson v. Blaukat, 453 F.3d 1108, 1112 (8th Cir.2006), we conclude the grant of summary judgment was proper for the reasons explained by the district court, see Ford v. Pryor, 552 F.3d 1174, 1178-79 (10th Cir.2008).

The government has moved for sanctions against Bruner. We may award “just damages” and single or double costs if we determine that an appeal is frivolous. See 28 U.S.C. § 1912; Fed. R.App. P. 38. In this case, we find Bruner has filed a frivolous appeal raising tax-protester arguments of the kind he unsuccessfully raised below and which have been repeatedly rejected in other proceedings. In these circumstances, we conclude that sanctions are appropriate. See Searcy v. Donelson, 204 F.3d 797, 799 (8th Cir.2000).

Accordingly, we affirm, see 8th Cir. R. 47B, and we award the government $5,000 in damages. We also deny Bruner’s pending motion.

1 . The Honorable Jimm Larry Hendren, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.