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.

  • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

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

      • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        12
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        It is!

        AFAICT, Texas has relatively generous laws for recovery of damages after wrongful imprisonment. In addition to the payout ($80K/yr, prorated), you get an annuity. In some cases you can even get free tuition at a state university. Whereas in most states, you can’t sue at all.

          • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            13
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            7 months ago

            Hence my emphasis on “relatively”. That would be $25K in Michigan, and $0 in most states.

            So technically, it is bigger in Texas.

              • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                7 months ago

                The law is described incorrectly. They wrote (my emphasis):

                The money was granted through the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act, a state law passed in 2016 that grants a wrongfully convicted person $50,000 for each day that person was incarcerated.

                But when you click on the link you find:

                the court shall award compensation as follows: (a) Fifty thousand dollars for each year from the date the plaintiff was imprisoned until the date the plaintiff was released from prison, regardless of whether the plaintiff was released from imprisonment on parole or because the maximum sentence was served. For incarceration of less than a year in prison, this amount is prorated to 1/365 of $50,000.00 for every day the plaintiff

                So by Michigan law he was entitled to $50K/yr, which is less than provided by Texas law ($80K/yr + other benefits).

                And of course $50K/yr over 36 years is roughly the $1.75 million he received. If it were actually per day, he would have gotten over $600 million.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  3
                  ·
                  7 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?

                  • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    6
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    7 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.