In Tennessee, Pamela Moses was sentenced on January 31, 2022, to 6 years in prison for “illegally registering to vote” despite her assertion the state department of corrections told her she was eligible to vote (story here). Legal experts said they were “baffled” by the severity of this sentence (story here). Less than a month later, a judge threw out her conviction because the state withheld crucial evidence that supports her defense (read story here).
Moses, a black woman, happens to be the activist who founded the Black Lives Matter chapter in Memphis.
In Pennsylvania, Bruce Bartman was sentenced on May 3, 2021, to 5 years of probation for registering his mother, dead for 12 years, and his mother-in-law, dead for 2 years, to vote in the 2020 election and actually casting a ballot in his mother’s name, as well as voting in his own name (read story here).
Bartman, a white man, voted twice for Trump.
All crimes are not equal. But all races aren’t equal, either. His “white” crime was more serious, but her “black” sentence was far more severe. Maybe Pennsylvania is just easier on criminals.