Justice for Crystal Mason as Conviction for Unlawful Voting is Lastly Reversed

A Black grandmother from Texas can lastly transfer on from the state’s aggressive prosecution of her provisional poll forged in 2016 that was by no means counted as a vote. Sure, there may be lastly justice for Crystal Mason as her conviction for unlawful voting was reversed, leading to an acquittal, in what’s seen as a significant victory for voting rights.

The Texas Second Court docket of Appeals on Thursday reversed the conviction on Thursday night after the courtroom mentioned the situation that there’s proof the individual knew they have been ineligible was not met on this case, as there was no proof Crystal Mason knew she was ineligible to vote when she forged her poll.

Mason was initially sentenced to 5 years in jail for casting a provisional poll within the 2016 election whereas on supervised launch for federal tax evasion, although she believed she was fulfilling her civic obligation and didn’t understand she was ineligible to vote.

“I’m overjoyed to see my religion rewarded at the moment,” mentioned Crystal Mason. “I used to be thrown into this battle for voting rights and can maintain swinging to make sure nobody else has to face what I’ve endured for over six years, a political ploy the place minority voting rights are beneath assault. I’ve cried and prayed each night time for over six years straight that I might stay a free Black lady. I thank everybody whose dedication and help carried me by way of this time and look ahead to celebrating this second with my household and mates.”

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“The case thrust Mason, who is Black, into the political fray amid a Republican-led crackdown on voter fraud, partly fueled by baseless claims of rampant illegal voting,” the Texas Tribune identified.

It’s a victory that Mason was lastly acquitted of this apparent voter intimidation tactic, however it additionally by no means ought to have occurred. If we take a look at the bigger level of legal guidelines like Texas’ voter legal guidelines, we see that they’ve a chilling impact on Black voters, which serves Republicans’ functions. So Republican legal guidelines are working to intimidate voters who typically don’t vote for them.

The conviction of Mason and subsequent harassment is supposed to function a warning to others to not vote.

“We’re very glad that the courtroom adopted the rule of regulation. It’s clear that the state’s prosecution in opposition to Crystal was malicious and purely politically motivated,” Kim T. Cole, the civil legal professional for Crystal Mason mentioned.

“The state’s prosecution particularly acknowledged that they needed to ‘ship a message’ to voters. They intentionally put Crystal by way of over six years of pure hell. She awakened each morning not understanding if that will be the day that her freedom could be stolen from her.”

And that’s precisely the purpose of those legal guidelines: To ship a message to voters who are likely to vote for Democrats. It’s nakedly partisan and wickedly anti-freedom.

It shouldn’t be misplaced on those who it’s Republicans who maintain getting convicted for intent to commit voter fraud. Simply yesterday, a Georgia decide dominated that Brian Ok. Pritchard, the vice chair of the state Republican Party and a conservative talk show host, voted illegally nine times by voting while on felony probation for check forgery. Despite the fact that he claimed that the 2020 election was fraudulent, he’ll solely must pay $5,000.00, so his life will not be being upended, neither is he being subjected to harassment because the “face” of unlawful voting.

This type of thuggish try to frighten opponents into not voting is a transparent indication of the authoritarian leanings the Republican Celebration has embraced beneath Donald Trump. Freedom is valuable, and really arduous to maintain.

Picture: American Civil Liberties Union