But she spent four months in jail, anyway, because Idaho is a lousy rotten state.
Laurie Erickson of Boise, Idaho, is an ex-convict. When she was released in 2018, the department of corrections didn’t tell her she couldn’t vote. While she was still on probation in 2020, the secretary of state sent her a voter’s pamphlet with voter registration forms.
Erickson registered and voted for Trump. Over a year later, the county prosecutor charged her with illegal voting, a felony; and, unable to raise bail, she spent months in jail. She ultimately pled guilty. (Read story here.)
The form sent to her did ask if she had any “legal disqualifications,” but also said, “Idaho felon’s rights are automatically restored upon completion of all sentencing conditions including probation or parole.” The state accepted her voter registration, but later that same office referred her to the prosecutor.
Assuming illegal voting is jail-worthy the state, not Erickson, should be thrown in jail. It failed to tell her she couldn’t vote; it told her felon voting rights are “automatically restored” (followed by some confusing language); it accepted her voter registration. The state, not Erickson, was behind the commission of this crime.
But wait, was a crime committed? The Idaho statute (here) says, “Every person not entitled to vote, who fraudulently votes, … is guilty of a felony.” The law everywhere defines fraud as an intentional act, but Idaho appears to have imposed “strict liability” on Erickson, eliminating the intent requirement, which goes against its own statute.
The great Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Even a dog knows the difference between being stepped on or kicked.” The prosecutor in this case blinded himself to the difference.
But even if accidental voting qualifies as a crime in Idaho, Erickson has a defense: Entrapment. The state didn’t tell her she couldn’t vote, encouraged her to vote, led her to believe she could vote, then prosecuted her for voting. She was entrapped.
Idaho is a lousy, rotten, lawless state.