Kaggen v. Internal Revenue Service
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
71 F.3d 1018 (2d Cir. 1995)
The IRS (defendant) levied on funds belonging to Elias Kaggen and Rio Sferrazza (plaintiffs) to satisfy unpaid taxes. The plaintiffs sued, claiming they never got the notice of seizure the law requires. The district court took judicial notice that banks generally send depositors monthly statements showing to whom their money went, and ruled that these statements would have given the plaintiffs sufficient notice of the IRS seizure; the court of appeals affirmed. On rehearing, the plaintiffs didn't dispute that their own banks in fact sent them monthly statements - instead, they argued the district court had improperly taken judicial notice of banks' general practice without giving them a chance to be heard on the issue first.
Whether a court may take judicial notice of a fact that is not reasonably subject to dispute because it is either generally known or ascertainable from a source whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.