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Showing Original Post only (View all)Crystal Mason: Texas woman sentenced to five years over voting error acquitted [View all]
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/28/crystal-mason-texas-woman-acquittedNo paywall link
https://archive.li/7DPCq
A Texas appeals court has thrown out a five-year prison sentence for Crystal Mason, a Texas woman who was sentenced for trying to cast a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election that was rejected.
Mason, now 49, attempted to vote in Fort Worth in the 2016 even though she was ineligible because she was still on supervised release which is like probation for a tax felony. She has always maintained she had no idea she was ineligible and only tried to cast a ballot because her mother urged her to.
A judge convicted her in a 2018 trial that lasted just a few hours.
Masons case became well known nationally and struck a chord as an example of an egregious punishment for a voting mistake.
In 2022, Texass highest criminal court told a lower appellate court it had to reconsider a ruling upholding Masons conviction. On Thursday, that court said there was not sufficient evidence Mason knew she was ineligible to vote.
We conclude that the quantum of the evidence presented in this case is insufficient to support the conclusion that Mason actually realized that she voted knowing that she was ineligible to do so and, therefore, insufficient to support her conviction for illegal voting, Justice Wade Birdwell wrote for the court in its Thursday ruling.
*the end*
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Crystal Mason: Texas woman sentenced to five years over voting error acquitted [View all]
Nevilledog
Mar 28
OP
Because the intent was to intimidate black voters. Even without putting her in jail, the intimidation worked
FSogol
Mar 28
#3
Sadly, 8 years of this hanging over her head caused the damage the GOP intended.
SunSeeker
Mar 29
#11
This is good news. But Oh My, we have such a long way to go yet. They still hold most of the cards in Texas.
Ford_Prefect
Mar 29
#14
She was shamefully treated by Texas GOP officials, but I'm so thankful she was finally acquitted!
summer_in_TX
Mar 29
#15
Meanwhile poor Brian Pritchard in georgia has to pay $5400 for illegal voting as a felon
lostnfound
Mar 29
#21