The Guardian, Dec 16, 2019: A Black Woman Faces Prison Because Of A Jim Crow-Era Plan To ‘Protect White Voters’
Lanisha Bratcher voted in the 2016 presidential election. Three years later she was arrested because she had broken a law she didn’t know about.
Bratcher faces up to 19 months in prison because she did not realize she had actually been stripped of the right to vote. Her lawyer says she’s being punished based on a Jim Crow-era law that was intended to disenfranchise African Americans.
Bratcher was on probation after being convicted of assault and North Carolina law mandates that people convicted of felonies can only vote once they complete their criminal sentences, including probation and parole, entirely.
