Woman convicted of illegal voting ordered to federal prison

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 5:56 pm CDT, Thursday, August 30, 2018

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A North Texas woman convicted in state court of illegal voting has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for violating her parole from a fraud case by casting a ballot.

Crystal Mason was sentenced to five years in state prison after pleading guilty in March to voting illegally in the 2016 presidential election. She was on supervised release from the federal fraud case after having served three years in prison and state law prohibits voting by a person still serving a sentence for a crime.

The 43-year-old Rendon, Texas, woman had been free on bond while appealing the state sentence, but U.S. District Judge John McBryde sentenced her Thursday for violating the terms of her supervised release that prohibited her from voting.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Woman-convicted-of-illegal-voting-ordered-to-13195063.php

---

(Short article, no more at link.)


The Crystal Mason Meme is Utter Bullshit
by JP Ribner | Apr 1, 2018 | Blog, Critical Thinking



So, does this disparity in convictions prove that America’s justice system is racist? If we take this meme at face value, it would appear that it proves what Leftists, progressives, and social justice warriors have been saying – America’s justice system is racist. I found this meme on Facebook. It was shared by one of my more progressive/SJW Facebook friends. In his opinion, this disparity in sentencing is proof of something. Truth be told, did not say what he believes this to be proof of. Knowing him like I do, I believe I know what he was hinting at with his Facebook post. I strongly believe that my friend thinks that the disparity in sentences between these two woman shoes that America’s judicial system in inherently racist and guided by systemic white supremacy.

Crystal Mason Arrest and Conviction
Let’s first take a look at Crystal Mason of Texas. Going only by the information in the meme, we are to believe that this poor African-American woman didn’t know that she wasn’t allowed to vote because of a previous felony. For her crime, a judge in Texas gave Crystal five years in prison. What makes it worse is that this poor woman didn’t know that she wasn’t allowed to vote, according to the meme.

Terri Lynn Rote Arrest and Conviction
According to the meme, Terri Lynn Rote of Iowa tried to vote for Donald Trump twice in the 2016 election. This is illegal. Instead of the five-year sentence that Crystal Mason received, a judge in Iowa ordered Ms. Rote to be on probation and pay a $750 fine. At face value, the meme seems to imply that Ms. Rote got a much lighter sentence than Ms. Mason for a similar crime.

Most Popular Social Media Memes
Admittedly, I tend to get pissed off when I see memes such as this one shared on Facebook. These memes are hardly ever 100 percent accurate in their depiction of events, yet they tend to be wildly popular. Here’s why: The information presented in them almost always appeals to the confirmation bias of the person who shares the meme. In case you’ve forgotten what confirmation bias is, here’s a refresher:

More:
https://www.jpribner.com/crystal-mason-meme-utter-bullshit/

[B2G]

1. This whole article is confusing

It sounds like she was convicted of a felony, had served 3 years and was paroled, and then voted which was a parole violation. So she was returned to prison to serve the rest of her sentence.

Not sure what the other woman has to do with this. People don't get sentenced for 5 years for voting violations.

[ProudLib72]

2. 2016 + 3 years equals 2018. Don't you get the "new math"?

[B2G]

4. No I don't. Lol.

The first sentence of the article says she was sentenced to 10 months and the 2nd sentence says 5 years.

Where do they get these writers?

[ProudLib72]

7. I read it again

and again. All I understand from this is that she had a prior felony and was not allowed to vote. Because she voted illegally (even though she wasn't aware it was illegal for a person with a felony on their record to vote), she was given five years in prison.

It is certainly worth discussing, but I sure wish the writer had explained the prior conviction more plainly. The prior and this voting conviction are being conflated it seems.

[B2G]

8. Thank God it's not just me.

[rpannier]

3. From the Star-Telegram

A jury found that Mason cast that ballot while she was serving out her term of supervised release, the federal government’s equivalent of parole from prison.

Mason has appealed her illegal voting conviction, but the federal government is not waiting for the outcome of that appeal. At Mason’s hearing Thursday a judge could immediately send her back to federal prison for two years.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article217498795.html

[bluestarone]

5. WOW just WOW

Some Judges are really fucked up i guess!!!!

[Fred Sanders]

6. Article says judge could...could...send to jail for the balance of her unexpired sentence for tax

fraud because of the parole violation. 2 years. But did ten months instead. Not really clear in the article. Not a sentencing on the voting illegality per Texas parole law at all, directly.

Again, attacking the judge who is following the law and the jury finding is not warranted.

Note - not really major LBN.