Justice of the Peace Russ Casey was accused of turning in fake signatures in order to appear in the March primary ballot in Tarrant County, Texas, and this week, the judge pleaded guilty to tampering with a government record during a court hearing, according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Casey was sentenced to two years in jail; rather than going behind bars, however, he will serve five years on probation. Casey resigned from his post last month.
"I apologize to the citizens of Tarrant County, the Tarrant County Republican Party, my family and friends for the way that I have ended my judicial career," Casey wrote in a statement, following the court hearing. "Today's proceedings have begun my transition from public to private life."
As Atlanta Black Star reported, his not-so-harsh punishment began to raise eyebrows, particularly in light of the case of Texas woman Crystal Mason, who was sentenced to five years in prison after she "illegally" cast a ballot in the 2016 election.
Mason was on supervised release following a three-year tax fraud prison stint, and claimed she wasn't aware of her inability to vote while she was on probation.
“They tell you certain things like you can’t be around a felon, you can’t have a gun,” Mason said. “No one actually said, ‘Hey, you can’t vote this year.’”
Basically, Mason received a much harsher punishment for accidentally committing voter fraud, while an appointed judge who intentionally broke the law received a slap on the wrist.
Texas Christian University political science professor Emily Farris posted about the racial hypocrisy on Twitter.
A Black woman mistakenly votes in an election in which she thought was allowed to but wasn’t: 5 YEARS IN JAIL.
A white male politician commits fraud to win an election in same county: PROBATION.https://t.co/dDmXeISAba— Emily Farris (@emayfarris) April 23, 2018
“We know that there is a great amount of racial disparity in sentencing, but this is a pretty stark comparison to illustrate that,” Farris noted. “We know that voter fraud is fairly uncommon and pretty rare.”
“I find it a little disheartening when there is a real case of fraud … abusing the public’s trust, that this incident has a different outcome than the other ones,” Farris continued.
Other Twitter users chimed in on the racial hypocrisy, as well:
It's racism because a white person would never be sent to jail for accidentally trying to vote when he or she thought she was eligible. No harm, no foul if you are white. Like I don't worry about being shot if a police officer pulls me over.— L J Platt (@ljordanplatt) April 23, 2018
Where are the lawyers, the ACLU, anyone to help this woman?
It does not make sense that an elected official is not held to a higher standard
She made a very miniscule mistake and you take 5 years from her?
He is aware of the crime, commits it anyway and gets probation?
Just wrong— Jonathan Baird (@bairdjm) April 23, 2018
Sounds about white…— Dora Milaje Shampoo Girl (@DiamondStylz) April 23, 2018
We need a national Ombudsman to address and rectify such obvious miscarriages of justice.— Jesper Weigner (@jespernweigner) April 23, 2018
Then he has the unmitigated audacity to think he merits forgiveness, respect & privacy!
Hey, Texas: Reverse those sentences, give HIM 5 years and give the mistaken but good-intentioned voter probation AND AN APOLOGY!— Dwight Denim (@Dwhite_Denim) April 23, 2018
This is awful. This is as appalling as other racialized double standards in our society, including the criminalization of marijuana vs. the celebration of medicinal dispensaries (owned by more educated and largely white corporate interests).— Vanessa Cruz Nichols (@phdcruz) April 24, 2018
