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Black Woman’s Bid to Regain Voting Rights Ends With a 6-Year Prison Sentence: Missteps by various officials put a Tennessee woman on a collision course with the law. Supporters say the sentence underscores racial disparities in voter fraud cases.
By Eduardo Medina
The New York Times
February 7, 2022
There are complexities in the case, as is often the case with situations involving human error and law breaking. It’s hard to keep track of all the details.
It does seem to be the case that there are racial disparities in sentencing. And if we are talking about voter fraud, how about — to give just one example — the Trump supporters who enacted a scheme of fake electors for the 2020 presidential election? Think they will be arrested any time soon?
At bottom, I find the following inequities, as well as rank injustice, in the so called “criminal justice” system:
the undeniable fact of racial disparities in sentencing — the numbers don’t lie;
excessive punishments — sentencing — often for victimless crimes that should not require incarceration;
a total lack of common sense and humanity on the part of prosecutors and judges.
Regarding the last point, has anyone asked — do, would they, ever? — or taken into account, when assessing the magnitude of an offense — a crime (in the eyes of the law) — whether and to what extent harm was done? Who was harmed by Ms. Moses’s “crime,” and why is the judgment against her in any conceivable way deserved or justifiable?
It doesn’t take any mental effort to see that the sentence is wrong, and what this says about our criminal justice system.
— Roger W. Smith
February 8, 2022