Pamela Moses, the founder of the Memphis Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapter, was sentenced to spend six years and one day in prison after illegally registering to vote in Tennessee.
According to the Shelby County District Attorney’s office, Moses had previously been convicted on 16 criminal charges.
During those charges, she pled guilty to felony counts of tampering with evidence and forgery and two misdemeanor counts of perjury, stalking, theft under $500, and escape.
Because of the felony convictions, Moses lost her right to vote in the state. However, she claimed that she believed she had the right to vote again despite her convictions because the county election commission and corrections department signed off on her application to register to vote. However, the documents should not have been signed off on.
“Moses filed a certificate of restoration and application for voter registration with the Shelby County Election Commission, falsely asserting that her sentence had expired and that she was eligible to register to vote. However, Moses was still serving her 2015 sentence on probation at the time she filed the restoration documents,” the District Attorney’s office explained.
“You tricked the probation department into giving you documents saying you were off probation,” Criminal Court Judge W. Mark Ward said in court, accusing Moses of misleading the officials.
Critics of the ruling and penalty argue that Moses received a harsh sentence due to her race.
“Pamela Moses, a Black woman, has been sentenced to six years in prison because of a voting error. Meanwhile, white individuals who are known to have committed blatant voter fraud have only received probation. There are two criminal justice systems in America,” tweeted the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund.
Pamela Moses, a Black woman, has been sentenced to six years in prison because of a voting error. Meanwhile, white individuals who are known to have committed blatant voter fraud have only received probation.
There are two criminal justice systems in America. pic.twitter.com/o4UqowdpbF
— Legal Defense Fund (@NAACP_LDF) February 4, 2022
Bede Anyanwu, an attorney for Moses, told The Washington Post, that she plans on appealing the sentence.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.  Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Pamela Moses” by Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
