Texas is serious about illegal voting.

MGTeacher

Dang - 5 years?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/woman-gets-5-years-for-illegally-voting-in-2016-presidential-election/ar-AAvh1lL?li=BBnbfcL

Soda Popinski

I thought punishments weren't deterrents. 

kellercl

People who aren't suppose to vote will do it anyway.  Voting laws are just hurting law abiding registered voters.  Therefore we shouldn't have any voting background checks, laws or punishments.  Bad guys going to do it anyway.  Laws don't help.    

ferris1248

Her going to prison serves no purpose except she gets 3 hots and cot for 5 years at our expense. Put her to working weekends on a road cleaning crew, a parks cleaning crew, washing dishes at a homeless center, cleaning public restrooms for a year or two. I prefer to believe this was done out of stupidity not out of forethought.

NACl H2O Luvr

kellercl said:

People who aren't suppose to vote will do it anyway.  Voting laws are just hurting law abiding registered voters.  Therefore we shouldn't have any voting background checks, laws or punishments.  Bad guys going to do it anyway.  Laws don't help.    

Haha...how about "Voter id laws suppress people's ability to exercise their constitutional right to vote"

Florida Ex-pat

kellercl said:

People who aren't suppose to vote will do it anyway.  Voting laws are just hurting law abiding registered voters.  Therefore we shouldn't have any voting background checks, laws or punishments.  Bad guys going to do it anyway.  Laws don't help.    

Or maybe enforce the laws we have as was stated in the article.

Florida Ex-pat

I would be curious to know which candidates she voted for and then investigate if there was a larger conspiracy to affect the election with illegal votes.  I am guessing that she would have talked facing 5 years of prison though.

Tarponator

Texas was much tougher than North Carolina was:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article146938034.html

MGTeacher

Tarponator said:

Texas was much tougher than North Carolina was:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article146938034.html

Yep. Different reasons to. Seems like the NC judge used some common sense, and TX judge went overboard.

Tarponator

I tend to agree, MGT. 

Hard to be sure though, as we don't really have all the details in either case.

Gardawg

It's Tarrant County not Ft. Worth. 

I'm surprised he didn't hang her.

CountryBumpkin

Although the press wants to sensationalize the story, since it is about voting, I suspect the message the judge was trying to convey was more about "breaking any law while still on probation". Play stupid games win stupid prizes. I suspect the 5 years was more based on her past record than on how she violated the parole conditions.

If I was a judge and you came before me for parole violations, I would send your happy butt right back to the pokey. Either you are ready to get out and make sure to "walk the line" and follow all the rules the court set or you can deal with consequences.

cadman

MGTeacher said:

Tarponator said:

Texas was much tougher than North Carolina was:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article146938034.html

Yep. Different reasons to. Seems like the NC judge used some common sense, and TX judge went overboard.

There was no judge in the NC case, so there the difference is a judge did not decide the NC case. The Prosecutor did not decide to bring a case against the woman due to the circumstance and the fact she had no prior record and was 67 years old,

In the Texas case the woman was a convicted felon. The Texas lady could have gotten 20 years under Texas law if the judge wanted to go overboard. 

Parkerboy

ferris1248 said:

Her going to prison serves no purpose except she gets 3 hots and cot for 5 years at our expense. Put her to working weekends on a road cleaning crew, a parks cleaning crew, washing dishes at a homeless center, cleaning public restrooms for a year or two. I prefer to believe this was done out of stupidity not out of forethought.

She will be doing her time in a work camp which in all likelihood will NOT be air conditioned unless she has a medical issue which requires ac and the state does not take her word for it.

Work camps here are akin to the old chain gangs except the inmates do not wear leg irons but do work such as keeping the highway right of ways clean of litter, growing food for themselves and other inmates. You can see guards on horseback armed with shotguns overseeing their work. 

Huntsville, home of the state dept of criminal justice is only about 20 miles from my house and work camps are are quite common around Huntsville