[EL] More on case with 5-year sentence for double voting (from ELB News and Commentary 7/18/13)

Thu Jul 18 14:45:35 PDT 2013

What sentence did the prosecutor request?

The comments by the prosecutor in the local news link [  http://news.cincinnati.com/videonetwork/2551559808001?nclick_check=1 ] state that she used her knowledge of the system to conceal the misconduct, apparently over a course of years.  If election officials who abuse their positions of trust are not held to account, who will be?  I'd analogize the "harsh" sentence to what happens when tax lawyers or CPAs use their specialized knowledge to perpetrate tax fraud.  The prosecutors don't like it and long sentences are sought for the deterrent effect.  Judges are tougher on criminals who use specialized knowledge or abuse positions of trust to commit crimes, and they should be.

The comments at the end of the excerpt, posted to the list previously, from an attorney for the election board made clear that investigating the fraud took significant work.  The defendant also apparently blamed a lack of training by the elections board for her actions, based on that attorney's comments.

Based on the limited information available, I'm not troubled by the sentence.  I'd be interested in seeing an excerpt of the hearing that included more of the defendant's statement.  The local press described her as "unrepentant."

John J. White, Jr.
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From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rob Richie
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 1:17 PM
To: Election Law; Bill Collins
Subject: [EL] More on case with 5-year sentence for double voting (from ELB News and Commentary 7/18/13)

A friend of mine, Bill Collins of Cincinnati, sent me and email about the Ohio case involving a five-year prison term for voting on behalf of her sister in several recent elections despite her sister being in a coma.

I'm no defender of voter fraud, but I question this sentence and the apparent behavior of the judge. Bill is copied on this message in case anyone has more questions about the case.

As an aside, I'll note has a practice where many people delegate their vote to others to cast as a proxy. Voting by mail is not done in presidential elections (and only done for parliamentary elections for the first time last year), so someone away from home instead gives a formal letter to someone allowing them to cast their vote. Turnout in presidential races is more than 80%.  It just shows how norms can be different in different nations. They see absentee voting as potentially ripe with fraud, and I assume many Americans wouldn't like the idea of this voting-by-proxy.

- Rob Richie

#################
From: Bill Collins <bcollins1 at cinci.rr.com<mailto:bcollins1 at cinci.rr.com>>
Date: Thursday, July 18, 2013 10:23 AM

Good morning.  It is so sad to read about the sentencing of Madisonville resident Mae Richardson to a five-year prison term, and the outrageous, bullying, racism verbal attack on her by Judge Robert Ruehlman at the sentencing hearing. See http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130717/NEWS0107/307170089/Illegal-voter-gets-5-year-prison-term?gcheck=1

I hope that individuals in Madisonville will speak out against Judge Ruehlman's sentence of Mae and the judge's outrageous behavior in court yesterday.  Below are the comments I just posted on http://www.cincinnati.com<http://www.cincinnati.com/>.

Best regards,

Bill Collins
Phone: (513) 271-4425<tel:%28513%29%20271-4425>
- - - - -

This long sentence for Mae Richardson is an outrage.

I know Mae. She is a likeable but prickly and difficult personality. She is an eccentric person, for sure, and her bizarre statement yesterday at the court sentencing clearly shows that. It's obvious that Mae needs professional help.

Judge Ruehlman's mocking treatment of her, in response, was an outrage. After all those years on the bench, doesn't Judge Ruehlman recognize mental illness? Is he THAT dense as to not see the evidence of mental illness standing before him at the bench?

- - - - - - -
Anybody who knows and observes Mae closely knows that she is a black woman who needs psychiatric help, and does not need a bullying, self-righteous lecture by a white judge from the bench at the time that he is sending her off to jail for five years. The judge has the power; Mae has no power. The judge's trashing Mae from the bench as he sends her to jail for five years is the worst kind of bullying, and yes the worst kind of state-sanctioned racism.

What Mae needs, and has needed for a long time, is some good mental-health services. Sending her to a regular prison with other female inmates will make her condition worse. PLEASE. The courts system needs to stop this outrage, sentence Mae to an appropriate sentence and get her some mental-health services. I hope for the best, but fear that the system -- if left unchecked -- will destroy Mae Richardson.

This is an OUTRAGE! The American people are not cruel people. Melowese (Mae) Richardson deserves better and we deserve better than this sort of state-sanctioned bullying, cruelty and racism meted out by Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman.

On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 11:46 AM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>> wrote:
Melowese Richardson Gets Five Year Term for Illegal Voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=53138>
Posted on July 18, 2013 8:28 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=53138> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See here<http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201307171724/NEWS0107/307170089&nclick_check=1>.  This is a significant sentence for some serious misconduct, including voting her sister's vote, who has been in a coma since 2003.  Although the poll worker accepted a plea deal, she was unrepentant:

"I think the board has shown me nothing but total disrespect for the 30 years I've served them," she told the judge. "I believe in the system and I've done nothing to harm the system or cause disgrace to President Obama."

The conservative, outspoken judge responded with scathing comments, blasting Richardson for suggesting she was being prosecuted because she was a black Democrat helping a black Democratic presidential candidate.

"It has nothing to do with race. It has nothing to do with politics. It has nothing to do with disrespecting you. You did this to yourself," Ruehlman told her.

"You're very selfish, self-centered. I really believe President Obama, if he were asked about this today, he would be appalled. He would not want anybody to cheat to get elected."

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