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Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
141–150 of 157 posts
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not racist, so no, I don't notice it. :-)
Seriously? It's 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/color-b...
give it two more years and the script will have been flipped again by white professors who don't actually know black people
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's also 'fairness' in law - so you have to serve a sentence similar to others guilty of the same offense. And yes in this strawman case your sentence should perhaps not be a long one. Except the sociopath angle - a person who commits crime for fun is quite likely to find another fun crime to commit.
Retribution is inherent to punishment and by extension justice. It simply makes no sense to claim otherwise. Mercy makes no sense unless we accept that. A judge cannot show leniency or mercy unless it is, first, acknowledged that the criminal deserves something commensurate with the crime, and second, there is a real, deserved possibility (at least in principle, even if never realized) of receiving one's just deserts…
Yes, but in America, a hatred of the punished is common regardless of whether you tie that to "retribution", and likely one of the many reasons rehabilitation is not a focus and/or strong outcome of our prison system.
And even if they do rehabilitate, our society is not properly set up to help them come back, so the retribution often outweighs the crime. They do their time in prison- but essentially they do time the rest of their life, because when they come back, they aren't treated as if their retribution is complete.
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
In other words, you're blind as to whether denigration is justified.
Not blind, but to make a really stark example, there's a difference between mocking someone when you have a gun to their head, and mocking someone who has a gun to your head. The former is just adding insult to injury, the latter is stupid but a little brave at the same time.
In the former example you have so much power that whatever cause you had to denigrate them no longer matters to you, but that is neither the common case nor principled.
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#145I 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.
Isn't the whole point of probation that you're under a microscope and face greater penalties for wrongdoing, in exchange for an early release or bypassing jail for an earlier offense?
The whole point of probation is that you are trusted enough to not be put in prison.
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#146> “I don’t think I’ll ever vote again,” she told the news outlet after her indictment. “That’s being honest. I’ll never vote again.”
This reminds of an article I read about a city government considering fining people for putting non-recyclables in their recycling containers. If there is a risk of getting punished for doing the right thing and no risk if you don't try to do the right thing, then guess which one I'm choosing.
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many people feel that probation is inherently unethical. X years of probation seems less harsh than X years in prison but often amount to the same thing. Without the option of probation prison time is not going to increase 1:1 and depending on the ratio total time in prison may actually decrease.
Who are these people? How many of them are ex-convicts?
When you're on reporting probation you essentially lose all of your rights. The rules are incredibly strict and your probation officer can come find you any time of day. If they call you and you don't answer the phone that can be considered a violation of your probation. Straight to jail. They can come in your house and search 24/7. They can send you to jail indefinitely for any reason or no reason at all.
Body cavity search any time they want.
Speeding ticket? Straight to jail.
Late to work? Straight to jail.
Outside of your house after 10pm? Straight to jail.
Didn't go to enough AA meetings this week? Straight to jail.
Not able to pay court fines? Jail.
Left city limits without permission? Guess what.
Attempt to vote? Five fucking years!
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#148Ignorance 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…
She didn't get 5 years because she did this act by itself, she got it for doing it while on probation. Also J walking is an infraction and this isn't. Pretty big difference in the severity of the crime, potentially altering the outcome of an election is far worse than j walking. Granted her vote alone wouldn't do that, but its a matter of principle, if you let one person get away with it then it adds up.
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Looking at the statute, it's not illegal unless you know you aren't eligible to vote (Sec. 64.012. ILLEGAL VOTING): http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/EL/htm/EL.64.htm Maybe some other law applies?
Amongst all the crazy comments in this thread, this may have been the only one we should all be discussing.
Re: Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why should criminals be denied representation? Does committing a crime suddenly make you no longer human?
Right, I can understand arguments for "you shouldn't lose the vote in that case", but that's a separate issue from "given that her vote wasn't valid, she was disenfranchising someone". And "no franchise" does not imply "not human", unless you're saying that every country should allow foreigners to vote in their election or else they're deeming them non-human.
this seems to be devolving to word games. your use of the word "hurt" appears to be quite distinct from how "hurt" seemed to be used by the op.