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This Woman Got 8 Years In Prison For Illegal Voting. Texas Is Showing No Mercy

ecofarm said:
I didn't claim citizen. You gonna tell a legal resident in their 40s who spent their whole life here they're not an American? They don't know anything else. What are they.
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I'm not going to tell them anything. Not my job.

Bottom line, though, none of that matters. She registered and voted illegally. Twice registered. Multiple times voted. She knew what she was doing. Got caught. Now pays the price.

Had she not behaved illegally, she would not have an issue.
 
ecofarm said:
Citizenship and community service working at voting stations.
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I hope this was a typo, because if you think citizenship is a punishment for illegally voting, then you are way off the reservation.
 
RaleBulgarian said:
The woman was brought to the United States as a baby and is a Legal Permanent Resident (no such thing as a “legal resident alien”), who unknowingly broke the law by voting. No intent to commit fraud and no effect on any election she voted in.

Now the state gets to pay for all her needs for the next eight years and her kids will probably be entitled to Medicaid . Real smart use of taxpayer $.
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You have no idea as to that of which you post. Two judges and possibly two juries who heard the evidence felt otherwise.
 
Mithrae said:
Bloody hell. Can't help but wonder at the fantasyland some people live in. By this time tomorrow she'll be a rapist and MS-13 member too, no doubt.
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Because I asked someone why being a mother makes someone a better person you have come to the conclusion that I'm going to see her as a rapist and MS-13 member by tomorrow? Wow, you must read fiction, because that is quite the imagination.
 
RaleBulgarian said:
The woman was brought to the United States as a baby and is a Legal Permanent Resident (no such thing as a “legal resident alien”), who unknowingly broke the law by voting. No intent to commit fraud and no effect on any election she voted in.
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I'd love to see the voter registration form she signed. "Unknowingly" just doesn't ring true over several years.
RaleBulgarian said:
Now the state gets to pay for all her needs for the next eight years and her kids will probably be entitled to Medicaid . Real smart use of taxpayer $.
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If they already weren't.
 
JacksinPA said:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/texas-voter-fraud-prison_us_5c01a9afe4b0a173c02305c1

Rosa Maria Ortega’s case illustrates the enormous discretion that prosecutors have in how harshly they pursue voter fraud.

A Texas appeals court last week refused to overturn the conviction of a 39-year-old mother of four who has been sentenced to eight years in prison for illegal voting. She could also be deported.

There’s little dispute that Rosa Maria Ortega did in fact break the law. Ortega came to the United States from Mexico as a baby and was living in the U.S. as a legal permanent resident. Although it’s against the law for non-citizens to vote in Texas, Ortega registered to vote in 2002 as a Republican and then cast ballots multiple times over more than a decade. She tried to register again after moving in 2014, which is when state investigators noticed something was amiss. They arrested her in January 2016.
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She lied & voted multiple times despite being a non-citizen. Texas is tough on law breakers.
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What does mercy have to do with anything?
 
8 years seems really high for this crime. I am willing to bet there is something they are not telling us here.

Usually something like this will get probation as it wold be crazy to fill up a slot in a jail with this person, so there must be something else here.
 
Mason66 said:
8 years seems really high for this crime. I am willing to bet there is something they are not telling us here.

Usually something like this will get probation as it wold be crazy to fill up a slot in a jail with this person, so there must be something else here.
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yeah good point
 
jimbo said:
You have no idea as to that of which you post. Two judges and possibly two juries who heard the evidence felt otherwise.
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It isn’t rocket science, Jimbo. Texas is deep red and personal politics do influence jurors and judges. Had the trial been held in a purple or blue state, I’d wager there would have been a different outcome, that’s if she were even charged at all.

Bullseye said:
I'd love to see the voter registration form she signed. "Unknowingly" just doesn't ring true over several years.
If they already weren't.
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Doesn’t ring true to you or you don’t want to believe the most obvious conclusion, that there’s no indication that she intended any fraud. Why would she deliberately fraudulently vote? Knowingly risk jail time for a single vote (on each occasion) that would not and did not have any effect on the election outcome? Makes no sense.
 
ecofarm said:
She's lived here all her life. Has a family, all born here. Supposedly thought she could vote, got the okay when she registered in 2002 and again, when she moved, in 2014.

She's a lifelong resident and mother who thought she could vote because she's always been a resident. Or she just wanted to vote. She's never been charged with any other crime her whole life.

You want to put her in prison then deport her to a country she's never known.
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That's just the problem with your argument. She didn't get approval in 2014. She got rejected because she checked the non citizen box. So she did what every citizen would do. Resubmitted. This time claiming to be a citizen. It was that which got her in trouble.

She knew she was not eligible. She was told she was not eligible. She did it anyway.
 
BrainNebula said:
Because I asked someone why being a mother makes someone a better person you have come to the conclusion that I'm going to see her as a rapist and MS-13 member by tomorrow? Wow, you must read fiction, because that is quite the imagination.
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OP says: "...a legal permanent resident"
BrainNebula reads: "she here illegally... four children draining our resources"

It seems that you (like Jimbo) have proven that Maria Ortega is not the only person who gets confused about these subtle distinctions - with both of you guys apparently remaining confused even after your error is pointed out in a big blue font!

Perhaps others will be encouraged by your confusion to have a little more sympathy towards the unfortunate woman.
 
jimbo said:
That's just the problem with your argument. She didn't get approval in 2014. She got rejected because she checked the non citizen box. So she did what every citizen would do. Resubmitted. This time claiming to be a citizen. It was that which got her in trouble.

She knew she was not eligible. She was told she was not eligible. She did it anyway.
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Based on the article she wasn't told she was not eligible. She was told that non-citizens are not eligible; but she'd had her initial registration and twelve years of voting experience telling her that she was eligible... knew her siblings and children are citizens... had legally lived and worked in America her whole life... and so erroneously assumed that she must be a citizen.

Such confusion from someone with a sixth grade education seems quite understandable. Especially in light of the confusion which you and BrainNebula have shown, persisting under the misapprehension that she was an illegal immigrant even after being corrected in big blue letters. Apparently the nuances of legal status are just difficult for some people to grasp :(
 
Mithrae said:
OP says: "...a legal permanent resident"
BrainNebula reads: "she here illegally... four children draining our resources"

It seems that you (like Jimbo) have proven that Maria Ortega is not the only person who gets confused about these subtle distinctions - with both of you guys apparently remaining confused even after your error is pointed out in a big blue font!

Perhaps others will be encouraged by your confusion to have a little more sympathy towards the unfortunate woman.
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She was brought here illegally.
 
Mithrae said:
Based on the article she wasn't told she was not eligible. She was told that non-citizens are not eligible; but she'd had her initial registration and twelve years of voting experience telling her that she was eligible... knew her siblings and children are citizens... had legally lived and worked in America her whole life... and so erroneously assumed that she must be a citizen.

Such confusion from someone with a sixth grade education seems quite understandable. Especially in light of the confusion which you and BrainNebula have shown, persisting under the misapprehension that she was an illegal immigrant even after being corrected in big blue letters. Apparently the nuances of legal status are just difficult for some people to grasp :(
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If what you claim is true then why did she check the non citizen box.
 
Mithrae said:
OP says: "...a legal permanent resident"
BrainNebula reads: "she here illegally... four children draining our resources"

It seems that you (like Jimbo) have proven that Maria Ortega is not the only person who gets confused about these subtle distinctions - with both of you guys apparently remaining confused even after your error is pointed out in a big blue font!

Perhaps others will be encouraged by your confusion to have a little more sympathy towards the unfortunate woman.
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Who said I didn't have sympathy for her? When have I ever said anything critical of her? All I said is that her being a mother of four doesn't make her a good person. But yeah, days after I read the original post I forgot that the article said she was a legal resident. Either way, she knew she wasn't a citizen because her Defense was that she didn't know the difference between a legal resident and US citizen. You shouldn't falsely equivocate her voting in multiple elections illegally to me misstating she was an illegal.
 
RaleBulgarian said:
Doesn’t ring true to you or you don’t want to believe the most obvious conclusion, that there’s no indication that she intended any fraud. Why would she deliberately fraudulently vote? Knowingly risk jail time for a single vote (on each occasion) that would not and did not have any effect on the election outcome? Makes no sense.
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Intentions means nothing, she violated the law. Nor do "all my family was voting" excuses.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
I am fine with jail for this but 8 years seems overkill if she doesn’t have a record (I didn’t read the whole article).
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I agree 8 years seems harsh, but I'll bet there are several thousands voting who don't get caught.
 
I have read multiple pieces in voter fraud exposed in Texas. So Texas takes voter fraud seriously. Good for them. Too bad California, Florida, and Arizona don't.
 
Bullseye said:
Intentions means nothing, she violated the law. Nor do "all my family was voting" excuses.
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Apparently, logic and unbiased judgement had nothing to do with the outcome either.
 
RaleBulgarian said:
Apparently, logic and unbiased judgement had nothing to do with the outcome either.
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you're not talking local, you're talking emotion. She clearly violated the law on several occasions. "I didn't know you have to be a citizen" is no excuse; I'm willing to bet the registration form she signed asked if she was a citizen and she lied.
 
8 years seems steep, but it is to send a message to others.
 
Bullseye said:
you're not talking local, you're talking emotion. She clearly violated the law on several occasions. "I didn't know you have to be a citizen" is no excuse; I'm willing to bet the registration form she signed asked if she was a citizen and she lied.
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Wrong. No emotion at all. A purely realistic view of the facts. It is illogical to believe the woman deserved to spend eight years in prison for what was very clearly an honest misunderstanding. There was no evidence of any nefarious intent, only confusion on her part. Yeah, I get “ignorance is no excuse” narrative, but factually speaking, mitigating circumstances are routinely considered in judging and sentencing. Not this time. Why? Simple, because she was tried in deep red Texas where there is an environment of bias against immigrants.
 
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