Was the I.R.S. Correct to Flag Certain Organizations for Additional Review?

Was the I.R.S. correct to flag certain organizations applying for tax-exempt status for additional review?

New analysis from The New York Times finds that in many cases groups singled out by the IRS may, in fact have been involved in “improper campaign activities.”

A California group called the CVFC, for example, spent thousands of dollars on radio ads supporting Republican Congressional candidate.  Another organization called the Ohio Liberty Coalition, which has complained about the scrutiny it received, in fact canvassed for Mitt Romney in the 2012 elections, handing out door hangers. And in Alabama, a group calling itself The Wetumpka Tea Party sponsored training for a get-out-the-vote initiative for the “defeat of President Barack Obama.”

Was the scrutiny the I.R.S. applied to these groups truly inappropriate?  And how, under ordinary circumstances, does the I.R.S. go about trying to check-up on organizations that apply for tax-exempt status? As the former director of the I.R.S.’s exempt organizations division, Marcus Owens has a few ideas about how the organization is supposed to handle these kinds of cases.