Movie Stars Can't Save Wesley Snipes From Prison

Back to blog

Sniper

Would these people write letters for me if I was an idiot and didn't pay my taxes?

NOT!!

Jimmaaay! of OH @ Apr 28, 2008 15:29:46 PM

Objective Comment for Mr. Snipes

No one should go to "JAIL" ,or prison worse, for taxes PERIOD. People should have to pay their taxes and so should Mr. Snipes. Especially people like Mr. Snipes who is in a more fortunate situation than most. Now, how any court of law in America could sentence him to ANY prison term at all is beyond American comprehension for taxes. Shame on Mr. Snipes for not paying his taxes, but shame on the government four-fold for sentencing a human to prison for taxes. And shame on the many super ignorant people on this forum for thinking this is O.K.. Mr. Snipes needs to be heavily fined, more than he would of originally owed, but this is a compromise of U.S. security of it's citizens, if an innocent person can go to jail for taxes. This is way too much government control. If all the money and fame could not save Mr. Snipes, what could happen to normal old you??????? The government can not sentence someone to jail for not doing taxes. Come on people.

Nick of SC @ Apr 28, 2008 14:31:21 PM

SNIPES

IF WESLEY GOES SO SHOULD THE CONGRESS AND SENATE FOR SCREWING UP OUR TAX MONEY AND SOCIAL SECURITY MONEY WE ALL PAYED IN

of NH @ Apr 28, 2008 12:09:28 PM

"Free at last , free at last - thank God Almighty- I'm free...at last !!"

Rascism still pervades the mind and corrupts the Soul.

David E. Smith of AZ @ Apr 28, 2008 11:29:20 AM

"Free at last , free at last - thank God Almighty- I'm free...at last !!"

Rascism still pervades the mind and corrupts the Soul.

David E. Smith of AZ @ Apr 28, 2008 11:28:58 AM

What is truth?

Will you recognize when you hear it or see it? Anything can be made "gray"; nothing seems to be black or white anymore. There will ALWAYS be a point of hypocrisity and/or self interests when dealing with any indiviual cases. $$$/fame will always have some kind of influence also.

Intent should be how cases are handled. If he intently decieved or withheld, then its justified. Otherwise, have him pay the total of his tax that is due with a significant fine (let others know this is how the judicial system works=you'll be held liable).

JJC of ND @ Apr 28, 2008 11:07:11 AM

Justice system needs an overhauling

My brother was murdered and the killer only served three years. Wesley Snipes gets the same sentence?

Victor Strickland of GA @ Apr 28, 2008 10:17:06 AM

Snipe hunting

Certain among us would like to pick and choose when they are to be treated like everyone else.

Wayne Capinegro of IL @ Apr 28, 2008 09:52:17 AM

be a man brother our time is comming

why michael jackson never go to jail for no paying tax, you know why

cause is not black but i sweear 20 years ago he couldn't do that cause he was black this is america. Time is bad for

for republican ,democrate as big enfluence in this election this years with one black who was neegga 50 years ago and now he is the largest favorite for this election.Dont go so far to undestand, but like brother king said time is comming for keeping peace no mater your skin coulor you can take part of america desision . be trong snipes we can change the world ,time woking hard to paying american war and engerance over the world is at the ende.Peace brother.

rayan @ Apr 28, 2008 07:53:33 AM

A little Education

For those who think that the income tax is mandatory, here is a little treatise on law, the power of the jury, etc. Maybe this information will spur some of the responders on this thread who think that Wesley Snipes is a criminal to get out of in front of the TV, turn off WWF, Desperate Housewives, CNN, NASCAR, and the latest rap song on MTV, and educate themselves on how we are all (black, white, latin, asian,...) being stolen blind....IGNORANCE comes in many forms.

Juries, Taxes, Wesley Snipes and American Injustice

Szandor Blestman

Szandor Blestman was born the 6th of 8 children to a high school English teacher and a certified financial planner. He attended the University of Illinois and earned a Bachelor's degree in Rhetoric in 1984 with minors in Math and Geology. He took some time off school to raise a family. He has five wonderful children, three of which have grown to adulthood. He achieved a Master's of Science in IT from the University of Maryland University College in Dec. 2004.

Szandor Blestman

April 28, 2008

Recently, Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison for not paying his taxes. He was acquitted of tax fraud and conspiracy charges, but convicted of three counts of the misdemeanor charge of failure to file tax returns. I´ve read and heard some stuff about this case that is rather disturbing to me, most of it having to do with the prosecutors´ conduct and the judge´s reasoning for being so harsh.

It seems that the prosecutors wanted the judge in this case to give Snipes a harsh sentence not because he was particularly malicious, or because he was a repeat offender, or because his crime with particularly heinous, but they wanted to send a message to other "tax protesters" that this kind of behavior would not be tolerated. The prosecutors wanted it to be known that the government will no longer tolerate people who exercise their god given right to question manmade law when it comes to the IRS collecting their tribute. They want to make certain it is known by all citizens that their gang will send armed men to your place of residence or work, kidnap you (at gunpoint if necessary) and throw you in a cold cell (perhaps even kill you if circumstances permit) if you have the audacity to question whether or not you actually owe these "taxes" to the extortionists that are demanding them. When passing sentence the judge said something to the effect of if one believes that one does not owe taxes, they should take it up with the IRS and not just simply refuse to pay one´s taxes. Yet it has been shown and documented more than once that if you ask the IRS to show you a law that says you must pay taxes, they will not. If one tries to work it through with the IRS and they do not cooperate, shouldn´t the next logical step be to take it to the court system? Ah, but Mr. Snipes may have forgotten that those in charge of the courts must realize that their livelihoods come from the very tax money he and others are protesting. They are very prejudiced against seeing things objectively. Why would they kill the goose laying the golden eggs?

It shouldn´t matter, really, whether there is a "law" requiring one to pay income taxes or not. To levy taxes against a man´s labor is stealing, pure and simple. The actions taken against Wesley Snipes and others prove that this is not a voluntary system of government, as it was meant to be. If one is forced to pay for protection under the threat of violence that is by definition extortion. If one has to ask permission from the government to work (as is required as evidenced by all the tax paperwork one needs to fill out before one can start a job) and one has to pay a portion of their salary to the "masters" who gave them permission to work, that is akin to slavery.

I may not know much about manmade laws, but I do know about common law. I know when I´m being ripped off. I know the difference between right and wrong. Natural law, or common sense, which is what our constitution was based upon, or at the very least should have been based upon, is obvious for all to see. Something is a crime if it hurts another or deprives them of something that they´ve rightfully earned, inherited or were given. That sounds more like what the IRS is doing than what Wesley Snipes did. Perhaps that is why a straight forward tax law has never been written, because it would be so obviously unconstitutional and blatantly illegal. Perhaps that´s why the tax code is so convoluted, because they know no one would pay into a legitimately voluntary system, especially since the federal government seems to screw up everything it touches. The problem seems to be that so many American citizens seem to think that government is the solution to the problems that government creates. We as a society, as the common people, need to learn to take personal responsibility for the laws we live under and to exercise our power as common men to decide whether or not a law should exist.

Juries have the power to do this. They have the power to judge the law. Those in the legal profession might not want you to know this, they certainly won´t tell you this and they may even lie to get you to believe otherwise, but juries have that power regardless. Juries can simply find a man not guilty regardless of the evidence against him. In fact, one juror who decides that principle is more important than an unjust law can hang a jury and make all the difference in the world. Juries are the reason the prohibition of liquor was done away with, not lawmakers. If the juries consisting of common folk had been convicting common folk of breaking the law back in the day when consuming alcohol was a crime, it would still be illegal to consume alcohol. If modern day juries consisting of common folk would stop convicting common folk of breaking the law when they decide not to pay their income taxes, it wouldn´t be long until the income tax would be done away with and the government would be forced to try to figure out a different way to steal from the common man.

I bet a great many Americans would think that Wesley Snipes was a rich man trying to not pay his "fair share" and that he got what he deserved. I beg to differ. One can only expect to receive as much freedom as he is willing to grant another. If it is wrong to tax the poor, then it is wrong to tax the rich. Remember, the income tax started as a tax on only "the rich" and left poorer folks be. Back when it started one was considered rich if he earned over $14000 per year. A person making that much in the modern world is most likely not making ends meet, if they´re not totally impoverished, and yet the government would think nothing of withholding a portion of his money for their tax schemes. The government doesn´t care about the common man, or more precisely those individuals with power working for the government don´t care about common folk. They only care about seeking more power, helping their friends, and punishing their enemies. If the income tax is to be abolished, it will be up to the common folk to break the bonds, for the politicians will try to maintain their grip on power like an alligator trying to maintain its hold on its prey.

Men with suits and robes sitting in legislative halls and behind benches wielding gavels have done more harm to our nation and its principles than any man refusing to pay taxes because the laws haven´t been adequately explained or simply because they want to keep the fruits of their labor. These men are not held accountable for their actions. These men are not being sent to prison for years for crimes against their fellow countrymen. These men continue to enforce manmade laws that enrich the elite and shackle the less fortunate. Until and unless the common man starts to wield the power of his god given rights and becomes truly free by ridding himself of the collectivist systems of wealth redistribution by taxation, these men will continue to take advantage of ignorance and unjustly imprison anyone who sees through the thin veneer of their legalized extortion schemes and dares to question their authority.

Lew Patrick of KS @ Apr 28, 2008 03:09:13 AM

Back to blog

Add Your Thoughts
About You

The Collar

Luke Mullins is an associate editor at U.S. News, covering banking, real estate, and white-collar crime. He came to the magazine from the American Banker, a financial services daily newspaper, after a stint in the Peace Corps in West Africa and 18 months coaching baseball in the Dominican Republic. Mullins earned a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University in 2005 and now lives in Washington, D.C., where he grew up. He has written about white-collar criminals for the American magazine, and his work was included in 20 Something Essays by 20 Something Writers: The Best New Voices of 2006, a Random House anthology that appeared on the Boston Globe's bestseller list.

People who read this also read ...

Best of The Collar

advertisement