Tennessee law enforcement is a smoke screen for fascism

Tennessee Department of Revenue agents are under orders to stop Tennessee motorists who have in their vehicles "large quantities of cigarettes" purchased out of state.

How will the 'Revenooers' know the cigs were purchased out of state? Easy-peasey.

Tennessee is dispatching under-cover agents to stake out stores selling cigarettes along interstate highways near the Tennessee border. When an agent spots someone with Tennessee tags buying cigarettes 'in volume' at a store in any one of the eight states bordering Tennessee, a radio call is made to a revenue officer who stops the car when it enters Tennessee.

And what happens then?

The stoppee, the schmuck whose car is weighted down with "large quantities of cigarettes," is arrested for bringing untaxed cigarettes into the state.

What is a large quantity of cigarettes, exactly?

More than two cartons, exactly. Namely, two cartons and one pack.

Toting untaxed cigarettes exceeding two cartons in measure is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in the pokey and/or a $500 fine.

Oh, a further little punishment may also be meted out, entirely at the arresting officer's discretion. Vehicles used to transport more than two cartons may be seized, since they are deemed contraband.

Now, you can bring up to 24 cartons and 9 packs into the state and get off with six months in the pokey, a fine of $500 bucks, and perhaps see your brand new used Buick hauled away to the auctioneer. But if you cross that "Welcome to Tennessee" line with just one pack more, 25 cartons in toto, you'll wish you were an illegal alien instead of a poor sap who likes his 'backy.

Bringing 25 or more cartons into Tennessee is a Class E felony. The punishment is a minimum of one year in prison (the maximum is six years) plus a fine of up to $3,000.

And, agents have been ordered to seize any vehicle carrying more than 25 cartons of cigarettes without Tennessee tax stamps.

Why has cigarette transport into Tennessee become a matter for the Gestapo?

On July 21, Tennessee’s cigarette tax jumped 40 cents, to 62 cents per pack. All eight states bordering Tennessee have lower tax rates, ranging from 17 cents in Missouri upwards. That means one carton (10 packs) is $4.50 cheaper in Missouri. Twenty-five cartons purchased in the Show Me state saves someone from the Volunteer State $112.50.

Is there, Dear Reader, a lesson to be drawn from this dreary dispatch? You betchum.

Jail for Fixing up His Property

Herewith a cautionary tale of letting Democrats rule unchecked. It comes from the Daily Breeze ("LAX to L.A. Harbor") in California.

Methinks, me friends, it's time for Conservatives to take up the cry: "Power to the People."

For Democrats, the cry is: "Power to the Government."

-Lunch

Man Gets Jail Time for Property Fixes

He built a fence, a retaining wall, a patio and a few concrete columns to decorate his driveway, and now Francisco Linares is going to jail for it.

By Megan Bagdonas
Staff Writer Daily Breeze August 28, 2007

Francisco Linares had been given six months to get final permits for the offending structures or remove them as part of a plea agreement reached in January, when he pleaded no contest to five misdemeanor counts of violating the Rolling Hills Estates building code.

On Monday, Torrance Superior Court Judge Sandra Thompson chastised the Farmers Insurance district manager for not completing what he agreed to do in January, then handed him the maximum sentence without possibility of house arrest or probation.

"I'm not scared," Linares said about spending time in jail. "It's just very unfair."

Richard Hamar, Linares' attorney, said he has never heard of anything like this.

"We're talking about fixing a fence that was on city property," he said. "He didn't build a Las Vegas casino. You put a guy in jail for six months because he repaired the city fence?"

The 51-year-old bought the nearly 1-acre property in 1998. After building a 3,000-square-foot French-style home, he began landscaping.

When Linares asked the city to repair the white three-railed fence behind his house, he was told it was on his property and his responsibility. So he replaced the termite-infested planks himself. Then the city reversed itself and said Linares had illegally built the fence on city property.

In October 2004, the city charged Linares with three misdemeanors: for not taking down the fence, having a retaining wall built higher than a 2-foot restriction and for erecting stone columns without a neighborhood compatibility analysis. Later inspections found eight other violations, including a lack of permits for plumbing and grading.

"He's had a couple of years to correct the problems," said Dean Pucci, a Fullerton attorney contracted as the city's prosecutor.

Linares lives in the house with his wife and three daughters. He contends that he didn't remove the structures because he believed the permits would be approved.

At the sentencing, Hamar said his client was a good Christian man who has never committed a crime and who worked diligently - 142 hours - to try to resolve the issues with the city.

And the only reason he was not able to complete the stipulations of the plea agreement, he said, was because of the city's confusing building codes and negligence in rendering a decision on his permit applications.

"We established that he did everything that was humanly possible to comply. And the un-rebutted evidence is that (the city) hasn't ruled on the permits," Hamar said. "To … do something as harsh as put a good man in jail for six months, you got to look at the impact on society. What will society gain if you put this man in jail?"

The prosecutor, however, said, "In virtually every city in every county a violation of the municipal code is a crime." [NB: In virtually every city in every county a violation of the municipal code is a civil matter, not "a crime." - Lunch]

Hamar said he plans to appeal.

"I'm praying that there will be an appeal and that my dad won't be sentenced to jail," said daughter Vanessa Linares, 18. "My dad is the backbone of our family. How would we be able to hold up if he's not here?"

http://www.blogger.com/megan.bagdonas@dailybreeze.com