Activism

Voting Error Leads to 6-Year Prison Sentence for Black Woman in Tennessee

District Attorney Amy Weirich, a Republican, has been touting the success of her case, gaining nationwide attention by conservative pundits. “What we had proved, we presented to that jury, and they listened to the evidence. They listened to the facts. They applied their common sense, and they returned the verdict of guilty,” she said in a statement to WREG, a Memphis TV station.

Published

3 years ago

February 12, 2022

Oakland Post

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Pamela Moses journey began in 2019 to run for mayor of Memphis when she discovered she was not eligible because of a felony conviction. Facebook photo.

By Post Staff

Pamela Moses, a Black Lives Matter activist in Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced to six years in prison for attempting to register to vote.

Both her conviction last fall and her sentence on Feb. 4 have been met with furor by Black leaders and political progressives.

Janai Nelson, the associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, told NBC News it was another level of voter suppression aimed at breaking democracy in the U.S. today.

“Pamela Moses, a Black woman, has been sentenced to six years in prison because of a voting error,” Nelson’s tweet said. “Meanwhile, white individuals who are known to have committed blatant voter fraud have only received probation. There are two criminal justice systems in America.”

Referring to it as a ‘paper case,’ Josh Spickler, executive director of an advocacy group called Just City, wondered why it was prosecuted at all considering the spike in violent crime in Memphis.

“Elected officials have used incredible amounts of resources in a time when there’s a backlog in this justice system unlike any we’ve seen before. They use resources to try …(to) convict this woman for trying to vote,” he told the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Moses, a former felon who wanted to run for mayor in 2019, tried to register to vote but was denied.

Believing that the denial was linked to miscalculating the terms of her sentence, Moses approached the department of corrections, where an official filled out the voter registration application for her, and then the county election commission signed off on her application.

What Moses didn’t know was, that under Tennessee law, her right to vote had been permanently revoked after her arrest in 2015 when she agreed to a felony plea deal because she couldn’t afford a $500,000 bond. “They never mentioned anything about not voting, being able to vote … none of that,” Moses said.

Moses would pay dearly for what she didn’t know because once the error on her voter registration application was discovered, the election commission, as was routine, notified the district attorney’s office.

What was not routine was that Moses would then face charges of perjury and falsifying an election document. This time, Moses refused to plead guilty because she didn’t believe she had done anything wrong.

In last November’s trial, Moses’ defense showed that the errors were made by government authorities, but the jury and the judge believed that Moses had knowingly attempted to subvert the law.

“I did not falsify anything,” Moses said at her sentencing hearing. “All I did was try to get my rights to vote back the way the people at the election commission told me and the way the clerk did.”

Judge Mark Ward wasn’t having it.

“You tricked the probation department into giving you documents saying you were off probation,” said Ward, who would consider granting her probation after she serves nine months.

Moses’ lawyer, Bede Anyanwu, told the Washington Post her client would appeal. “This case is one about the disparity in sentencing and punishment – and one that shouldn’t have happened.”

According to Sam Levine, an opinion writer for The Guardian, “The Republicans who actually cast illegal ballots in the name of relatives they definitely knew were dead each received light sentences. The Black woman who thought she was allowed to register to vote is set to spend the next 72 months in prison.”

At a press conference following her sentencing, Moses, 44, was joined by about a dozen supporters holding signs despite an ice storm “Trying to vote is not a crime” and “Justice for Pamela,” signs read.

In 2015, Moses pleaded guilty to two felonies and three misdemeanors, which led to her receiving probation for seven years. The felony convictions made her ineligible to vote in Tennessee permanently.

Depending on the offense, Tennessee is one of several states that disenfranchise former felons. California is one of 21 states where disenfranchisement ends after incarceration is complete. Maine, Vermont and Wash., D.C., allow prisoners to cast absentee ballots.

“I relied on the election commission because those are the people who are supposed to know what you’re supposed to do,” Moses told station WREG in Memphis. “And I found out that they didn’t know.”

Reports from The Memphis Commercial Appeal, The Guardian, The Washington Post, BET, WREG-TV and MSNBC were the sources for this report.

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Newsom Fights Back as AmeriCorps Shutdown Threatens Vital Services in Black Communities

“When wildfires devastated L.A. earlier this year, it was AmeriCorps members out there helping families recover,” Gov. Newsom said when he announced the lawsuit on April 17. “And now the federal government wants to pull the plug? We’re not having it.”

Published

2 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

California for All College Corps.

By Bo Tefu
California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing the federal government over its decision to dismantle AmeriCorps, a move that puts essential frontline services in Black and Brown communities across California at risk, the Governor’s office said.

From tutoring students and mentoring foster youth to disaster recovery and community rebuilding, AmeriCorps has been a backbone of support for many communities across California.

“When wildfires devastated L.A. earlier this year, it was AmeriCorps members out there helping families recover,” Newsom said when he announced the lawsuit on April 17. “And now the federal government wants to pull the plug? We’re not having it.”

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration is behind the rollback, which Newsom calls “a middle finger to volunteers.”

Meanwhile, Newsom’s office announced that the state is expanding the California Service Corps, the nation’s largest state-run service program.

AmeriCorps has provided pathways for thousands of young people to gain job experience, give back, and uplift underserved neighborhoods. Last year alone, over 6,000 members across the state logged 4.4 million hours, tutoring more than 73,000 students, planting trees, supporting foster youth, and helping fire-impacted families.

The California Service Corps includes four paid branches: the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps, Youth Service Corps, California Climate Action Corps, and AmeriCorps California. Together, they’re larger than the Peace Corps and are working on everything from academic recovery to climate justice.

“DOGE’s actions aren’t about making government work better. They are about making communities weaker,” said GO-Serve Director Josh Fryday.

“These actions will dismantle vital lifelines in communities across California. AmeriCorps members are out in the field teaching children to read, supporting seniors and helping families recover after disasters. AmeriCorps is not bureaucracy; it’s boots on the ground,” he said.

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Four Bills Focus on Financial Compensation for Descendants of Enslaved People

This week, CBM examines four more bills in the package — each offering ways for Black Californians to receive restitution for past injustices — from housing assistance and reclamation of loss property to fairer pay and the establishment of a state agency charged with determining eligibility for reparations.

Published

3 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

Edward Henderson
California Black Media

Last week, California Black Media (CBM) provided an update on four bills in the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) 2025 Road to Repair package.

The 16 bills in the Black Caucus’s 2025 “Road to Repair” package focus on “repairing the generational harms caused by the cruel treatment of African American slaves in the United States and decades of systemic deprivation and injustice inflicted upon Black Californians,” said the CLBC in a release.

This week, CBM examines four more bills in the package — each offering ways for Black Californians to receive restitution for past injustices — from housing assistance and reclamation of lost property to fairer pay and the establishment of a state agency charged with determining eligibility for reparations.

Here are summaries of these bills, information about their authors, and updates on how far each one has advanced in the legislative process.

Assembly Bill (AB) 57

AB 57, introduced by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), would require that at least 10% of the monies in the state’s home purchase assistance fund be made available to applicants who meet the requirements for a loan under the home purchase assistance program and are descendants of formerly enslaved people.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee is currently reviewing the legislation.

Assembly Bill (AB) 62

AB 62, also introduced by McKinnor, would require the Office of Legal Affairs to review, investigate, and make specific determinations regarding applications from people who claim they are the dispossessed owners of property seized from them because of racially motivated eminent domain. The bill would define “racially motivated eminent domain” to mean when the state acquires private property for public use and does not provide just compensation to the owner, due in whole or in part, to the owner’s race.

AB 62 is currently under review in the Judiciary Committee.

Senate Bill (SB) 464

SB 464, introduced by Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), aims to strengthen the existing civil rights laws in California concerning employer pay data reporting. The bill mandates that private employers with 100 or more employees submit annual pay data reports to the Civil Rights Department. These reports must include detailed demographic information — including race, ethnicity, sex, and sexual orientation — pertaining to their workforce distribution and compensation across different job categories. Furthermore, beginning in 2027, public employers will also be required to comply with these reporting requirements.

The Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment, and Rules is currently reviewing SB 464. A hearing is expected to be held on April 23.

Senate Bill (SB) 518

SB 518, introduced by Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D-San Diego), establishes the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery to address and remedy the lasting harms of slavery and the Jim Crow laws suffered by Black Californians.

SB 518 is under review in the Senate Judiciary Committee. A hearing is expected to be held on April 22.

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Faces Around the Bay: Author Karen Lewis Took the ‘Detour to Straight Street’

“My life has been a roller-coaster with an unlimited ride wristband! I was raised in Berkeley during the time of Ron Dellums, the Black Panthers, and People’s Park. I was a Hippie kid, my Auntie cut off all our hair so we could wear the natural styles like her and Angela Davis.

Published

3 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Karen Lewis. Courtesy photo.

By Barbara Fluhrer

I met Karen Lewis on a park bench in Berkeley. She wrote her story on the spot.

I got married young, then ended up getting divorced, raising two boys into men. After my divorce, I had a stroke that left me blind and paralyzed. I was homeless, lost in a fog with blurred vision.

Jesus healed me! I now have two beautiful grandkids. At 61, this age and this stage, I am finally free indeed. Our Lord Jesus Christ saved my soul. I now know how to be still. I lay at his feet. I surrender and just rest. My life and every step on my path have already been ordered. So, I have learned in this life…it’s nice to be nice. No stressing, just blessings. Pray for the best and deal with the rest.

Nobody is perfect, so forgive quickly and love easily!”

Lewis’ book “Detour to Straight Street” is available on Amazon.