what the hell?

[acroyear]

Officials find source of fake election flier, won't press charges | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com:

Calling it a "joke that got out of control," a top state election official today confirmed that the person responsible for a phony election flier circulated in Hampton Roads has been identified.

Law enforcement officials, meanwhile, added that charges will not be filed in the matter.

Oh THIS PISSES ME OFF.

Year after year after year, false information (almost entirely, but there are exceptions, spread to harass potential Democratic voters) is spread around through junk like this, through robocalls, through lies in websites, to in-person threats door-to-door in minority neighborhoods.

And if you don't charge these people with a crime, which they have committed and admitted to, you're just asking for it to continue forever.

"Oh, yeah, I raped her, but it was just a joke." - if that's not a valid defense, then "it's just a joke" isn't a valid defense here, either.

Intent may be useful in sentencing, but it alone should not be free reign for carte blanche permission to spread bullshit illegally like this.  A crime was committed.  It is up to the courts to decide if there was malicious intent.

Comments

[thatwasjen]

ITA.

And there's no option, is there? It's not like the ACLU or Democratic National Committee can sue in the state's place, is it?

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

actually, there may be some recourse for suing the state itself but those rarely win. The ACLU couldn't sue the perp unless there's actual (un-faked) proof that someone showed up to vote tomorrow. But there's that whole "standing" thing - no victim, no crime seems to be the state's stance on it.

Beyond that, it is up to the locality to react to this by dismissing the head prosecutor at the polls when his own election comes up...but nobody remembers things like this when those elections roll around.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

So if a democrat in VA didn't vote today, there's something useful they can do tomorrow. Go to their polling place, look lost and confused. Ask the most official person there where you are supposed to go to vote. Then call the hotline to report voter fraud.

IOKIYAR

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

"But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime.”—Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey, August 2008

[dawntreader]

that's so wrong!!! "there's no criminal intent" is the excuse given for not pressing charges.

well, there's no "criminal intent" when a bunch of teenagers steal a stopsign on a lark, or throw shit off an overpass either. but serious consequences can occur as a result and you can JUST BET that if it said "republican should vote on the 5th" that screams of "OMG VOTER FRAUD ACORNZ!!!111" would be ringing across the nation.

wtf!? this is so unfair!

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

And didn't one of the sets of things go out with official logos? Isn't that some sort of crime (I can imagine what would happen if someone used the official White House Logo on a Vote Against Prop 8 pamphlet).