The liberal/leftist mainstream news media is once again trying to justify a crime using race and ignorance to condemn a good law. Houston resident Hervis Earl Rogers, 62, a convicted felon, was charged on June 24 with illegally voting. He is being portrayed as a victim of an unjust law that restricts minorities from voting.
Rogers, an ex-felon, voted in the 2018 general and special elections and the 2020 Democratic primary. Ex-felons can only vote if they have completed both their sentences and all the terms of their supervised release, such as parole, which Rogers had not. In addition, it is against the law for anyone in Texas to knowingly vote or attempt to vote in an election in which they know they are ineligible.
The liberal news media and leftist politicians portray Rogers as a victim of an unjust law limiting people from voting. This is another news story to argue for liberalized voter laws that allow everyone and anyone to vote anyhow and anywhere.
Rogers was previously convicted of felony burglary charges in 1989 and 1995 and was under felony parole for a 25-year sentence for burglary. In addition, he could face up to 40 years in prison for the two felony charges of illegal voting, a second-degree felony in Texas.
As usual, the liberal news media and leftist politicians are playing the race and income cards to argue their point. Rogers is portrayed as a good citizen because he waited for over six hours at a polling center in Houston to vote in Super Tuesday 2020. But the violated law is described as discriminatory because it impacts mostly on poor minorities.
However, “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” and laws and was grounded in morality. Paul Rosenzweig, visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, wrote in 2013, “The phrase captures an important concept about culpability. It stems from a time when criminal law was grounded in morality and a shared understanding of wrongfulness and when crimes were self-evident wrongs—what the law calls “wrong in their essence.”
Also, the right to vote must be reserved for lawful, legal citizens. We cannot excuse criminal behavior, no matter how minor, without punishment; otherwise, we more and worst crimes. There must be disincentives to breaking the laws, and losing the right to vote should be one of those.
Sadly, for today’s liberal news media and leftist politicians, criminals are innocent because all laws are racist and favor the rich. Secondly, the morality of liberals and the left excuses ignorance and even willful disobedience of the law.
Voter education groups, particularly liberal/leftist organizations, are always doing voter education and registration. Educating ex-felons about this law should be part of those efforts.
Voting is a sacred right, and it must be preserved and protected for lawful and legal citizens. To reserve election integrity, we cannot let anyone, nor everyone, vote everywhere and anyhow.