Posted on 07/09/2025 8:06:10 AM PDT by FreeReign
Case thrown out for “for lack of evidence”? NOT on First Amendment violations?
I find that troublesome.
Woo hoo!!
“Ricky Vaughn” is finally exonerated.
Shadilay!
More winning!
You make an important point.
The process is the punishment.
So for everyone who doesn’t remember:
Mackey was prosecuted after sharing a meme during the 2016 election season that joked Hillary Clinton supporters should text in their vote. It was a joke, but Biden’s Department of Justice under Attorney General Merrick Garland accused him of election interference. Despite their claim, they could not provide evidence that anyone had been fooled by the meme into thinking that they should text their vote. This lack of evidence was not concerning to the DOJ, who also suggested that Mackey was racist because of the meme.
fixed it.
May the committee see hard jail time.
“a satirical meme that encouraged Hillary Clinton voters to cast their votes via text in the lead up to the 2016 election.”
Case thrown out for “for lack of evidence”? NOT on First Amendment violations? I find that troublesome.
A procedural error is less time consuming, and far easier to justify to an appellate court, because it doesn't require any analysis of the subject matter. Was there a First Amendment violation? On its fact, the answer appears to be "yes." Did that battle need to be fought? No.
Yes. I know what you mean.
However, this was the conviction...
“Case thrown out for “for lack of evidence”? NOT on First Amendment violations?
I find that troublesome.”
He didn’t argue First Amendment. In fact, the government agreed that merely posting the memes would not have been a crime. The government alleged that he was part of a conspiracy to prevent people from voting by using the memes.
His argument - which the Second Circuit agreed with - was that there was no evidence that he was part of such a conspiracy.
I am okay with that. You are not allowed to intentionally mislead people regarding voting issues under various laws. The lack of evidence is related to the fact that they couldn’t prove he was intending to mislead people rather than be funny.
The biggest 1A tragedy here is that it was even prosecuted in the first place because it is such a common joke over the years from all sides.
The Eastern District of New York judge should be impeached and convicted for even allowing the case to be tried in the first place. The prosecutors in the case should be fired and disbarred.
Given that the conviction was specifically for “conspiring to deprive citizens of their right to vote”, why would the First Amendment necessarily be in play?
You make a good point about the burden of proof, but you wrote “Did that battle need to be fought? No.”
I disagree. As usual, they are just kicking the can down the road re: 1A violations for a future court to handle. I get tired of the courts doing that. These issues need to be settled once and for all, preferably now and not at some point in the future. It would appear that this is an excellent test (and potentially landmark) case.
I saw in a different article that he did not argue 1A principles. Given that, this is a good outcome. But the 1A principles remain unresolved, in my opinion.
His argument - which the Second Circuit agreed with - was that there was no evidence that he was part of such a conspiracy.
Yup, thanks.
So he was prosecuted by Biden’s DOJ 4 years after the 2016 election and after Trump left office for something he did in 2016? That’s true vindictiveness.
“ Mackey was prosecuted after sharing a meme during the 2016 election season that joked Hillary Clinton supporters should text in their vote. It was a joke”
Wow .
So my joke that Republicans vote on Election Day and to save time and have less crowds, Dems vote the next day would get me in trouble?!
Wow
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