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Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

#91

Post by tyingq »

zeveb wrote: post #16
akuji1993 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, that's exactly what a private prison system leads to. You can see the system working as intended here. 5 years is... just ridiculous. There's no words for this kind of injustice.

I find five years a bit surprising, but what do you think the proper penalty would be for a felon committing voter fraud should be? Edit: I'm utterly amazed that this comment has been downvoted to silence. Disenfranchising felons — i.e., those who have committed extremely serious crimes — is while somewhat controversial a long-standing practice. The woman in question committed voter fraud by voting without being lega…

I'm not convinced with the basic premise that a felon shouldn't be able to vote, so why any penalty at all?

It's also believable she didn't know this law existed.

Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

#92

Post by jadedhacker »

ocfx wrote: post #29

Ignorance to the law does not make you immune to the law.

Next time someone crosses the street outside the crosswalk and gets 5 years, please quote this again. That's more intentional than what this lady did by mistake casting a provisional ballot. Proportionality is a core principle, you don't whip out the harshest possible punishment just because you can.

In this case, they should have simply discarded her ballot and informed her of her status. Of course, disenfranchising any citizen, even convicted felons, is completely unjust, so I would argue they shouldn't have even done that.

Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

#93

Post by chapill »

HN commenters claim there was no voter fraud in 2016. Voter fraud is discovered and prosecuted. HN commenters then complain that prosecuting the voter fraud they said didn't exist is excessive.

Free and fair elections are what make America great. Sad to see such a lack of respect for that here.

Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

#94

Post by gpm »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #81

I can't quite figure out what the major differentiating factor is between that case and this one where someone intentionally tried to vote twice and just got 2 years of probation: https://twitter.com/ryanlcooper/status/979519186820128768 I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

Different state, Iowa vs Texas?

Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

#95

Post by tyingq »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #81

I can't quite figure out what the major differentiating factor is between that case and this one where someone intentionally tried to vote twice and just got 2 years of probation: https://twitter.com/ryanlcooper/status/979519186820128768 I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

The major difference is skin color.

Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

#96

Post by ygaf »

lukeschlather wrote: post #15
gpm wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a pretty damn racist comment. I'm sure it is not every white Texan, and I am sure it is not only white Texan's but also Texan's of other races. Is the relevant group predominantly white? Yes, probably. That doesn't make it acceptable to paint all white people with that brush. Imagine if I made a similar comment about black people and shootings.

The difference is power. Denigrating a politically weak group like black people is just bullying. Denigrating the dominant group is standing up to power.

In other words, you're blind as to whether denigration is justified.

Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

#99

Post by anigbrowl »

syshum wrote: post #76
jernfrost wrote: post #66

Man the US just disgust me. Land of the free my ass. The amount of inhumane policies is just staggering. The most brutal and unjust “justice” system in the free world. That American put up with this system is the biggest puzzle. It seems like the only freedom Americans care about is to carry a gun. Any other freedom they are cool with flushing down the toilet. Sorry for the angry rant, I know there are lots of good a…

While I 100% agree about the amount of inhumane policies and do not believe the US (or any other nation) are free. It is completely untrue that the only freedoms Americans care about is guns, that seems like that because 1. The Mainstream media loves to cover it 2. Guns are a taboo or unusual Topic for many nations 3. Given the US is one of the last if not the last first world nation that has few regulations on ownin…

virtue signal how much "better" they are in comparison because they outlawed the evil gun

No, it's much more common for some Americans to virtue signal how free they feel by the number and caliber of the guns they own. People in other countries don't hate guns, they just recognize their destructive potential and limit their availability on that basis. To the extent that they think they're better, it's because they have so few episodes of mass or casual murder by comparison.

The US has made lots of process in the progression of liberty even in my life time. Drugs laws are beginning to loosen,

You mean the drug laws that the US instituted in the 70s and then kept ratcheting up penalties on for a couple decades afterwards? If you were born in the 90s I realize it's hard to conceptualize variations in the law prior to that, but you should probably look into the political roots of the drug war and the economics involved in its export.

More expansions on Free Speech over the protest of the "hate Speech is not free speech" people, and others

It's odd that the people who've championed the freedom to express support for genocide under the rubric of free speech have been entirely absent from just about every other free speech cause in recent memory. You might want to broaden your scope a little bit.

Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation

#100

Post by SilasX »

ifdefdebug wrote: post #31

How does such an attorney and judge feel after such a trial? Do they feel satisfied, fulfilled? Taking away 5 years of someone's life over a little mistake that didn't hurt anyone? I don't get it: why does a free people like the Americans allow for that kind of sinister figures to be their prosecutors and judges?

I agree that the exact level of punishment may be disproportionate, but where do you get "hurt no one"? An invalid vote cancels a valid one. Is disenfranchisement not a big deal anymore?
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