Tax Protester Suffers Unjust Sentence: Free Wesley Snipes

Ever since the dubious passage of the income tax, which in spirit defies the original intent of Constitutional taxing authority, many tax protesters have attempted to fight it on an individual basis by refusing to pay taxes and consequently serving time in jail. Ed and Elaine Brown and Irwin Schiff are well-known examples of this type of activism in action.

In 2010, famous film star Wesley Snipes joined the ranks of those imprisoned for refusal to pay taxes. Under advisement of his lawyer, Snipes filed his returns under the pretense that he is not required to pay the income tax on wages, a popular position held by many tax protesters. He also declared himself a non-resident alien of the US in an apparent attempt to disassociate himself from his natural born citizenship. He was charged with a misdemeanor for failing to file his tax returns on time, and, due to his celebrity status, he was given an extraordinarily harsh sentence of 3 years in prison. This was done to make an “example” out of him. He still remains in real prison to this very day, not starring in action movies that net millions of dollars and produce jobs. Let’s discuss the injustice.

Is Making Examples out of Certain Defendants Consistent with Equal Protection Under the Law?

Wesley Snipes committed a misdemeanor and is serving a 3-year prison sentence. The vast majority of people would never receive such a harsh sentence. However, Wesley Snipes is a film star. His hard work over the years has caused him to be of interest to major media publications. To take advantage of this, the state decided to give him a harsher sentence as this would be newsworthy and would allow them to use his massive PR enterprise free of charge to promote their “pay your taxes or go to jail” public awareness campaign.

So essentially, because Wesley Snipes has produced more jobs and become more successful than others, he must remain in jail longer. This is counter-intuitive sentencing policy. Jails are supposed to be there to protect society from dangerous people, not to house film stars who have a political dispute with the government. Also, Wesley Snipes has paid over $30 million in taxes over the past ten years alone — it’s safe to say he’s been paying his “fair share.” He’s probably paid more in taxes than most people will in their lifetime.

Who Benefits from Wesley Snipes’ Imprisonment?

Does the government benefit from this? No. If Wesley Snipes were not in prison, he would be working on movies. The movies themselves would create lots of jobs and potentially billions of dollars in revenue, much of which would inevitably be taxed. US citizens don’t benefit from this, because the nation is gripped by an economic depression, and Wesley Snipes is the type of film star that attracts funding to films. Think of all the jobs already lost over the past couple of years.

Wesley Snipes is a real human being who is prolific and productive. Outside of prison, he spent his life amassing wealth, creating jobs, and starring in top movies like Blade and Demolition Man. He has a family. He’s been serving a prison sentence for two years now for a misdemeanor, and nothing he’s convicted of has caused any harm to anyone. Though he’s set to be released in July of 2013, six more months is too long. Wesley Snipes should have never been punished so harshly in the first place. It is my humble opinion that he should be set free as soon as possible. Besides, what’s wrong with not wanting your hard-earned money to be spent on nation building wars and drones? That sounds more like someone who deserves a medal than someone who should be locked away in prison.

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