CNN.com: Trump believes millions voted illegally, WH says -- but provides no proof (and other stories not supported by the facts advanced by the Trump administration)

[Bozo the kKklown]

1 hour ago, visionary said:

 

This is infuriating 

[thinwhiteduke]

1 hour ago, GhostofSparta said:

So is Trump part of the deep state now?

**** guys, it's turtles all the way down now.

Deep state?Just another stupid word media gave you.

He's A puppet  like all the rest. 

[Larry]

1 hour ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

 

So probation for systemic voter fraud, 5 years prison for one illegal vote.  Makes sense.  

 

Just looking for an explanation, but it's possible that it's "probation for systematic voter fraud, and violation of probation (and therefore back to prison for the part of your original sentence that you got out early for) for one illegal vote."  

 

[PleaseBlitz]

1 hour ago, Larry said:

 

Just looking for an explanation, but it's possible that it's "probation for systematic voter fraud, and violation of probation (and therefore back to prison for the part of your original sentence that you got out early for) for one illegal vote."  

 

 

And if so, does that make it seem just and fair to you?

[Larry]

5 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

And if so, does that make it seem just and fair to you?

 

Perhaps "mitigating circumstance" might be a better label.  

 

Is it really unfair for society to hold people who have been released early from prison, to not break any other laws, while they're on probation?  Or is that rather the point?  

 

(Note:  I'm not sure that's what happened, in the "five year sentence" case.  I'm simply fishing for a possible explanation.)  

 

[The Evil Genius]

Teri Lynn Rote, the Iowa woman who knowingly voted twice (absentee) for Trump, was given 2 yrs probation and a $750 fine.

 

Personally, I think that judge today needs to lose his job. But sadly he will never have to answer for this joke sentence. 5 years. **** that.

[TheGreatBuzz]

13 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

Teri Lynn Rote, the Iowa woman who knowingly voted twice (absentee) for Trump, was given 2 yrs probation and a $750 fine.

 

Personally, I think that judge today needs to lose his job. But sadly he will never have to answer for this joke sentence. 5 years. **** that.

I say this as a blanket statement, not just for these cases.  There really needs to be a lot more uniformity in how sentences are imposed.  Some MIT brainiac needs to come up with some computer formula that applies things equally.

[PleaseBlitz]

19 hours ago, Larry said:

 

Perhaps "mitigating circumstance" might be a better label.  

 

Is it really unfair for society to hold people who have been released early from prison, to not break any other laws, while they're on probation?  Or is that rather the point?  

 

(Note:  I'm not sure that's what happened, in the "five year sentence" case.  I'm simply fishing for a possible explanation.)  

 

 

I get what you are saying. However, #1 her crime was, by her account and not really contested by the DA, a mistake (as oppossed to a deliberate attempt to subvert the democratic process like the GOP chair did). #2, her crime is not a crime in many states because it is controversial as hell that people remain disenfranchised after theyve paid their debt to society. #3, what is gained by sending this person back to prison?  She had a job and seems to be a productive member of society, now shes back to being a ward of the state for 5 years instead. #4, when a judge puts you on probation and tells you to stay out of trouble, do you think voting is an activity the judge is seeking to prevent?

[PleaseBlitz]

18 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

Teri Lynn Rote, the Iowa woman who knowingly voted twice (absentee) for Trump, was given 2 yrs probation and a $750 fine.

 

Personally, I think that judge today needs to lose his job. But sadly he will never have to answer for this joke sentence. 5 years. **** that.

 

This is ****ing infuriating. 

[The Evil Genius]

Affluenza teen who murders 4 people driving drunk serves 2 years.

 

This lady gets 5 for voting while on probation.

 

Yep, that's the Trumpian ****hole world we live in now.

[tshile]

On 3/31/2018 at 6:48 PM, PleaseBlitz said:

2, her crime is not a crime in many states because it is controversial as hell that people remain disenfranchised after theyve paid their debt to society.

 

According to the article Texas restores your rights. 

 

Her problem is that she had not yet paid her debt to society. She was still on probation. 

 

She can say she didn’t know, but that excuse never precludes anyone else from punishment. Why her?

 

the way it reads to me is not that she was sentenced to five years for illegal voting, but for violating her probation (which was, not coincidentally, five years...) (edit: actually, it reads the exact opposite, and I can't find the details to know the difference. i did find that in Texas illegal voting is punishable up to 20 years in prison, which seems ridiculous)

 

And her probation was for tax fraud. 

 

Sucks but at some point adults need to be treated like adults. Maybe she should grow up. 

[LadySkinsFan]

The law is all Texas. As is the prosecutor and judge. 

 

And actually, if someone is a convicted felon one should know the parameters of the sentence and parole. We always say ignorance of the law is no excuse. 

 

I feel sorry for this woman, she should have known better.

 

However, those who knowingly break the voter fraud laws need to be have greater punishment, including jail time for a first offense. Because they are trying to influence an election. That's unAmerican.

[tshile]

she had to pay 4.2 million in restitution for tax fraud?  that's quite a bit of inflating clients' returns...

[Bozo the kKklown]

I'm sorry, but something is wrong with a criminal justice system that punishes someone for voting.

 

I know a few of you think that's perfect and just, but that is awful.

[tshile]

4 minutes ago, BenningRoadSkin said:

I'm sorry, but something is wrong with a criminal justice system that punishes someone for voting.

 

I know a few of you think that's perfect and just, but that is awful.

 

It punished her for committing a class two felony while on probation.

 

You guys can twist it all you want but she failed some basic adult responsibilities.

 

She defrauded the government out of at least 4.2 million dollars and was put on probation as terms of being released from prison early

She didn't bother to understand the terms of her probation

She didn't read the provisional ballot she filled out

 

Sounds like she shouldn't be voting anyways, if she can't handle such basic responsibilities as reading something before you sign it and understanding the terms of your early release from prison. (all of which is in addition to winding up in prison in the first place...)

 

But I agree - you shouldn't be punished for voting. It's a constitutional right (until you lose it by defrauding the government/taxpayers out of 4.2 million dollars.)

[Bozo the kKklown]

4 minutes ago, tshile said:

 

It punished her for committing a class two felony while on probation.

 

You guys can twist it all you want but she failed some basic adult responsibilities.

 

She defrauded the government out of at least 4.2 million dollars and was put on probation as terms of being released from prison early

She didn't bother to understand the terms of her probation

She didn't read the provisional ballot she filled out

 

Sounds like she shouldn't be voting anyways, if she can't handle such basic responsibilities as reading something before you sign it and understanding the terms of your early release from prison. (all of which is in addition to winding up in prison in the first place...)

 

But I agree - you shouldn't be punished for voting. It's a constitutional right (until you lose it by defrauding the government/taxpayers out of 4.2 million dollars.)

There is no twisting at all.

 

She wasn't "restored her full voting rights," and she was punished for voting.

 

That is the black and white. We all see that. I know you think its fine for someone to goto prison for voting, but many of us believe that is unjust and that law needs to be changed.

[The Evil Genius]

Not to mention the woman in Iowa who knowingly voted twice absentee for Trump who was only fined $750 and given 2 years probation. She was white.

 

Hate to go there, but this smacks of Texas bigotry. 

[tshile]

3 minutes ago, BenningRoadSkin said:

There is no twisting at all.

 

She wasn't "restored her full voting rights," and she was punished for voting.

 

That is the black and white. We all see that. I know you think its fine for someone to goto prison for voting, but many of us believe that is unjust and that law needs to be changed.

 

Her rights weren't restored because she was still on probation. The texas law is clear - you get your rights restored once you've fully paid your debt for your crimes.

 

And comparing it to another case in another state with different laws and not even commenting on what the other case was is twisting it for emotional purposes.

 

As is pretending she was "punished for voting."

 

It is pretty black and white. That's definitely true.

 

5 years seems dumb, but I can't find if that's because she violated her 5 year probation or what. The articles aren't very clear and I'm not investing anymore time into it. If she got 5 years because she violated her 5 year probation, and that's how Texas does things, then it's absolutely just. The punishment is for violating the terms of early release for the other felony - it doesn't matter whether her new felony was for illegally voting or not, the punishment is related to the first felony. If it's for voting that seems harsh, though the judge had the option of putting her in prison for up to 20 years (which seems absurd to me.)

 

I believe where I live if you violate your probation you serve the full suspended sentence. I don't think it matters whether you violate it on the first day of probation, or the last. 

 

I believe that's the deal for leaving prison early.

 

If she had just stayed in prison for those 5 years she wouldn't have been able to vote and wouldn't have had a probation/parole to violate.

 

Just now, The Evil Genius said:

Not to mention the woman in Iowa who knowingly voted twice absentee for Trump who was only fined $750 and given 2 years probation. She was white.

 

Hate to go there, but this smacks of Texas bigotry. 

You don't hate to go there, you're loving it. 

If this was some white guy who had defrauded the tax payers of 4.2 million dollars, then violated probation/parole in this manner, the same people decrying it would be laughing because a white guy got caught committing voter fraud.

 

You all are as transparent as it gets when it comes to this stuff.

 

Was the woman in Iowa on probation/parole? What was her criminal record? What's the law in Iowa about illegal voting?

 

[Bozo the kKklown]

You shouldn't be punished for voting. THAT IS THE PROBLEM!

[tshile]

3 minutes ago, BenningRoadSkin said:

You shouldn't be punished for voting. THAT IS THE PROBLEM!

She wasn't punished for voting.

 

She was punished for illegally voting while being on probation for a serious felony.

 

This is what i mean when I say twisting. You're perfectly capable of understanding this, you've been involved in more complicated discussions here and shown as much. Yet here you're twisting. 

[Bozo the kKklown]

21 minutes ago, tshile said:

She wasn't punished for voting.

 

She was punished for illegally voting while being on probation for a serious felony.

That is the point. She was literally punished for voting based on a law that is insane.

 

There is no twisting of anything here, that is literally why she is going back to prison.

 

Stuff like this is why there is a prison industrial complex in our country. They want people in prison by creating laws like this.

 

If she was ineligible to vote, she should not have been on any voter rolls.

 

And to even go further back, why is any adult ineligible to vote? Our country is so unjust so often, smh.

[The Evil Genius]

One for the mitigating factors (I always thought) for judges in sentencing is the post jail life. By all accounts this woman had made a new life for herself and had started a new career (she even worked for the State for a period after jail time) and had paid her dues (and was still paying them under supervised release). 

 

I'm truly curious at the outcome of her appeal on the sentence as it appears draconian to the crime committed. Especially in light of the apparent work she had put in to reform herself.

[tshile]

4 minutes ago, BenningRoadSkin said:

If she was ineligible to vote, she should not have been on any voter rolls.

 

Um

 

The first sentence of the linked article:

Quote

Crystal Mason’s mom insisted that she vote in the 2016 presidential election, but when she went to her polling place in Tarrant County, Texas, she found her name wasn’t on the rolls.

 

 

So, she wasn't on the rolls.

 

I'm all for debating whether it's right to remove someone's rights when they do certain things, and how they should be restored. I'm all for debating whether 5 years is just or not (once we clear up whether the five years was for violating a 5 year probation, or for illegal voting.) I'm all for debating whether a maximum of 20 years in prison for illegal voting is just or not (i'm inclined to think it's not, seems absurd.)

 

I'm not interested in the various amounts of acrobatics being done to paint this woman as a victim of anything.

[The Evil Genius]

7 minutes ago, tshile said:

 

 

I'm all for debating whether it's right to remove someone's rights when they do certain things, and how they should be restored. I'm all for debating whether 5 years is just or not (once we clear up whether the five years was for violating a 5 year probation, or for illegal voting.) I'm all for debating whether a maximum of 20 years in prison for illegal voting is just or not (i'm inclined to think it's not, seems absurd.)

 

I'm not interested in the various amounts of acrobatics being done to paint this woman as a victim of anything.

 

It's akin to violating someone's probation over jaywalking though (after some podunk Texas town makes it a Class D felony). 

 

Was it the jaywalking that sent the person back to prison or the violation of the probation?

 

There are times for common sense and mercy in the justice system. It happens all the time. It's too bad that it didn't happen with the first judge but there is always hope that common sense will prevail in the end. 

 

[twa]

43 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

Not to mention the woman in Iowa who knowingly voted twice absentee for Trump who was only fined $750 and given 2 years probation. She was white.

 

Hate to go there, but this smacks of Texas bigotry. 

 

Was it the Iowa woman's first criminal offense?

 

Priors and on probation matter under the law......I am glad to see ya wanna punish 1st offenders hard though.