5 June 1997, NYP: A federal judge in Denver has awarded $250,000 in punitive damages to a woman whose family business was raided by armed Internal Revenue Service agents four weeks after the woman insulted an IRS agent. The revenue agents padlocked all three Kids Avenue clothing stores in Colorado Springs, and posted notices that some customers interpreted as evidence that the woman, Carole Ward, 49, was a drug smuggler. In a harshly worded 17-page opinion, Judge William Downes of the U.S. District Court in Denver found that one of the IRS agents, James Dolan, was "grossly negligent" and acted with "reckless disregard" for the law, and that he made three false statements in a sworn declaration. The judge, who said the actions by the IRS agents violated Ms. Ward's privacy rights, wrote that the punitive damages award "gives notice to the IRS that reprehensible abuse of authority by one of its employees cannot and will not be tolerated." ----- Full story at: http://jya.com/irshit.htm