Charleston Man Receives $525 Federal Fine For Failing To Pay For A $0.89 Refill

Charleston Man Receives $525 Federal Fine for Failing to Pay for a $0.89 Refill (Liberty Blitzkrieg, April 17, 2014):

Some of you may wonder why of all the stories out there today I decided to focus on the $525 fine a construction worker in South Carolina received a for refilling his drink without paying. The reason is to highlight the difference between what happens when a peasant breaks the law versus when a banker does it.

In this case, citizen Christopher Lewis refilled his drink without paying at the VA Medical Center in downtown Charleston. For this horrific offense (a refill costs $0.89), he was hauled into a room by the Federal Police Force and given a ticket for $525. Even worse, he was told not to ever come back to the premises, so he ended up losing his job as well.

So for this undoubtably minor offense, Mr. Lewis received a fine almost 600x greater than the cost of the crime and lost his ability to support himself. Compare that to the slap on the wrist banks receive when they are caught engaging in criminal behavior that leads to the theft of billions of dollars. At the worst, they pay a fine that is only a fraction of the profits and no one goes to jail, so the law actually incentivizes major financial crime. Meanwhile, if a peasant steps out of line, even for the most minor offense, the full brute force of federal law comes down like a ton of bricks. This is one of the main reasons why the social fabric of society is being torn apart, and unfortunately, there will be a hefty price to pay for it in the future.

This is a theme I have written about time and time again, most recently in a two part series, which I suggest reading:

Some Money Launderers are “More Equal” than Others

Some Money Launderers are More Equal than Others Part 2 – CEO of BitInstant is Arrested

From WCSC News we learn that:

CHARLESTON COUNTY, SC (WCSC) – A North Charleston man was hit with a federal fine for refilling his drink without paying. The on-site construction worker says he didn’t know refills at the VA Medical Center in downtown Charleston came at a price, and Wednesday, during his lunch hour, he was slapped with federal charges.

The ticket was issued by the Federal Police Force at the VA Medical Center in downtown Charleston after Christopher Lewis refilled his soda without paying the $0.89. A hospital spokesperson called it a “theft of government property.”

“Every time I look at the ticket, it’s unbelievable to me,” says Lewis, who works construction. “I can’t fathom the fact that I made a $0.89 mistake that cost me $525.”

Lewis says he tried to pay the $0.89 right there, but wasn’t allowed to. He says he wasn’t given the chance to pay the cashier either.

“I never had an option to make right what I had done wrong.”

He says he was taken to a room, given the $525 ticket for shoplifting and told not to return to the property.

“I’m done there, at the VA hospital. I’m not allowed to go on the premises anymore. I asked him can I still work on the job site and just bring my lunch and not got to the cafeteria and he said he wanted me off the premises.”

Freedom.

Full article here.

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

3 thoughts on “Charleston Man Receives $525 Federal Fine For Failing To Pay For A $0.89 Refill”

  1. It is becoming profitable for these goons to jail people and sell their work to corporations than follow the law. The America I knew is dead.

    Reply
  2. When I was studying law in UK, we had a judge, who was to become Master of the Rolls, i.e. the absolute top judge.
    His name was Lord Justice Denning.
    He rose from obscurity by using Common Sense in his reasoned judgements.
    Because of that, he was hailed as the most influential and best advert for the judiciary we ever had.
    His signed photo graces my study, second only to Winston Churchill and of course my Dad….who tops both.

    The point is, common sense has gone out of the window. Especially in the USA where greed for wealth usurps every other principle.

    I recall the classic case of Monsanto v Percy Schmeiser. The bought judge, who ended up on Monsanto’s Board, could not have shown more bias in favour of Global Corporatism over simple Common Sense.

    This example highlights how we have been brainwashed by every possible source of complicit bribery into accepting the outlandishly atmospheric levels of fraud and corporate corruption and downright theft as nothing to get het up over!

    As with pollution, global warming, GMO’s, vaccines, autism, aids, war, same sex etc…we’re programmed to accept it thanks to incrementalism. We’re told it may happen, we reject it. Five years down the line…it happens…but we’re ready, so it doesn’t hurt….this is how they program us.

    It is simply up to us to quietly uphold the levels of common sense we know are right, and pass them on…otherwise…the generation we nurture will fail.

    Reply

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