04-25-2008, 10:11 PM
I'm not condoning what he did at all, nor am I making a judgement on when I think he'll get out of jail. What bothers me about the situation is this....despite his willful neglect for not filing tax returns, Snipes has never and I do mean NEVER had legal problems in the past. He paid a little more than $5,000,000 in back taxes and as it was stated even had people vouch for his character that were all of the same respectable stature as himself. The judge involved in the case stated to Snipes that he was making an example out of him and gave him the maximum sentence possible. Now to me this comes across as just another way of sticking it to people that really don't deserve the complete harshness of the legal system while a murderer will be allowed to walk free on bond and become a flight risk if someone has the money to spring him.Regretfully I live in Tennessee thanks to my parents moving me here at the tender age of 5. however I also live in the Meth capital of the world. A couple of years ago not just Tennessee but Campbell County Tennessee which is were I lived was rated number 2 in the nation for the the production and sale of both Marijuana and Meth. Now if I'm not mistaken we're rated number 1 in meth production and weed slipped somewhere off the scale because the Meth became so cheap and easy to make.One of my best friends who has always been a good kid has a brother who is total scum of the earth. He's been arrested so many times for meth production that I've honestly lost count (what happened to the 3 strikes law) and yet he manages to get released every single time. There's always some deal that gets offered to him and he pleas out of doing serious time. This guy even went so far as to have a fake ID made with my friend's information on it so when he got busted once it caused a huge problem him for a brief amount of time. Ultimately and quickly it was sorted out once they found out that the information on the ID belonged to a Straight A student and a child of the IT field.I tell you this because just a couple of weeks ago, his brother was arrested once again for making and selling meth and it looks like he's going to be able to plea out of it again. It was in the paper that he gave up his girlfriend because he was making it at her house and since it's her place she's responsible for what goes on there. Everyone, my friend, his famiy, my self and their friends all know that *nameless* was behind this yet he's going to walk again. Now I ask you....how is it fair that some scum bag like my friend's brother can get away with doing something so illegal, so may times, yet someone with no record such as Wesley Snipes who has ABSOLUTELY NO record and has made complete restitution for what he owed get the maximum sentence that the law will allow? This just goes to show you how screwed up our legal system really is. Do I agree with what Snipes did? No. Do I think he should be punished? Yes. Do I think that he should have been sentence to jail time for it....absolutely not...restitution was made and problem solved.On a closing note I'd like to add this....for those of you who don't know...there is actually NO and I do mean NO law that states that we have to pay taxes. Americans pay taxes by taxation without representation. Think I'm kidding or I'm wrong....there's a guy running a contest right now who's giving away a million dollars....the only thing you have to do to win is show him one single US law that states that Americans are required to pay taxes.I know some of you will read that statement and think I'm crazy, but try to find on yourself....there's more laws regarding taxes than we could count collectively, however there is not a single one that says we're required to pay them....try not paying them once and see what happens though. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_protester_statutory_arguments#Arguments_about_the_legal_obligation_to_pay_ta\" target=\"_blank\">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_protester...tion_to_pay_tax</a> For those that might argue that Wikipedia can be editited by anyone, that's true, so I recommend just typing into google *do we have to pay income tax* and watch what comes up.I'm sorry if I bored you guys with this but I was touchy about it since I heard about the punishment Snipes received. Probation would have been more than enough for him and he got the book thrown at him. Honestly I'm sure there will be appeals but in my opinion it never should have came to that in the first place.-Joseph