For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3 - 46

You Think Politicians
Are Liars? Check Out
Their Trolls
A
s someone practicing criminal defense and election law, I
am interested in helping my clients get elected and hoping
they never need me for criminal defense. The intersection
of these two areas of law I dread the most is reviewing campaign
finance reports, which, if I'm lucky, will only make my eyeballs
ache rather than bleed. The investigation of these matters is
brutal. The entire campaign organization touches donations, and
therefore makes it way too likely that everyone tells me " It was
someone else's fault. "
Thank goodness, for my sake, at least, there is more to election
law than math and reports. Election-related crimes fall into three
buckets, and the intricate campaign finance laws are just a part
of that. The other two areas are civil rights issues, including
intimidating voters to cast ballots for candidates or preventing
voters from casting votes, and fraud offenses, such as giving false
information at registration or elected officials using their office
to help a friend get elected. The complexity of these crimes is a
constant concern.
Recent elections, specifically since 2016, have seen cases that
feel like the fraud and civil rights buckets have overflowed. We
criminal practitioners and election lawyers are all standing in a
giant political puddle without the necessary rainboots. This is
the intersection of free speech-moving online at lightning-fast
46 For The Defense l Vol. 9, Issue 3
Marni Jo Snyder
speeds, unable to be erased, and with the ability to " go viral " -and
highly regulated elections, where integrity and access are vital to
our democracy. The impact of these cases on the legal community is
significant and urgent.
Three defendants in particular grabbed my attention these
last eight years, mainly because the scheme by two of the doers
touched Pennsylvania, but also because where free speech is
implicated, there also exists issues regarding separation of powers
and substantive due process.1
The cases involved social media,
technology, and lying to the American voters to call election
results " fake " one day. I love the twisted hypocrisy of that scheme,
but I also love the First Amendment. And I dislike the American
version of jail. Reading these cases was like watching a true crime
documentary made for me (instead of the ones that make me
scream objections at the TV).
Circuit.2
Douglass Mackey's case is currently on appeal in the Second
It has been a wild ride.3
You may remember an alt-right
internet troll named Ricky Vaughn with a huge Twitter following.4
Ricky Vaughn, aka Douglass Mackey, had nearly 58,000 followers
and even was said to have more significant political influence
than the beloved Stephen Colbert.5
Despite being suspended
twice, he came back to Twitter with a slightly different Twitter
handle and new memes, like this one on November 1, 2016:6

For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3

Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3 - 1
For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3 - 2
For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3 - Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3 - 4
For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3 - 5
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For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3 - 46
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For the Defense - Vol. 9, Issue 3 - 54
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