Appeals court rules Mason, now 49, did not know she was ineligible when she voted in 2016 and throws out conviction

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.

  • Flying Squid
    -2•8 months ago

    ($80K/yr + other benefits).

    Originally you said:

    By law the most she can recover is slightly under $40,000, minus legal fees.

    So which is it?

    • @FlowVoidEnglish
      5•8 months ago

      She was incarcerated for a few months, not an entire year. The $80K/yr is prorated, so most likely she can get something under $40K.

      • Flying Squid
        -2•8 months ago

        You certainly didn’t make that clear. And even for a few months of wrongful incarceration (along with the years of having to spend time in court), $40,000 is pitiful. Absolutely pitiful.

        “They don’t pay as much in other states” doesn’t make it any less pitiful.

        Would you find that to be adequate compensation for destroying five years of your life for doing something that wasn’t illegal?

        • @FlowVoidEnglish
          3•8 months ago

          I never said it was adequate.

          I replied to the suggestions that it doesn’t matter because she already served her time (it actually does matter), that she should sue (she can but recovery is limited), and that everything is bigger in Texas (yes it is, relatively speaking).

          Note that courts never compensate innocent people who are tied up in court, even for years. Compensation is only for people who are wrongfully incarcerated. Even in Texas.

        • @ripcord
          3•8 months ago

          Man, you just want to argue with anyone you can about anything you can, huh?

          You’re being unreasonable, replying to their observing that despite this being awful, they’re somehow better than a bunch of other states.

            • @ripcord
              1•8 months ago

              You certainly didn’t make that clear.

              Or true.