Felony obstruction
Voter suppression is riding high.
Georgia state Rep. Park Cannon was arrested on Thursday and charged with felony obstruction as Georgia’s Gov. Brian Kemp signed a controversial new voting reform bill into law.
Cannon was detained after knocking on Kemp’s door.
Kemp, a Republican, was announcing the signing of the bill over a live stream when he was interrupted by Cannon, a Democrat. Cannon’s arrest was also captured during a live stream, as the lawmaker was joined by others who came to the state Capitol in Atlanta to protest the bill.
This kind of shit is what the Voting Rights Act was meant to stop, but since the Supreme Court kneecapped it we’re going backwards.
Police said Cannon was moved to the Fulton County Jail and charged with obstruction of law enforcement, a felony, and preventing or disrupting General Assembly sessions or meetings of members, a misdemeanor.
A felony.
I wonder if the cops would have arrested her if she were white. I wonder if she would have been charged with a felony if she were white.
White guys.
Point taken.
It’s not a “voting reform bill.” It’s a “voter suppression bill.”
Well, the good news is that democracy in the S.A. (if there was ever anything U about them, that time is long gone) is never going to die. As every horror movie can teach you, you can’t kill what’s already dead.
From looking at tweets from lawyers who appear to know what they’re talking about, her arrest stinks for several reasons. Primarily because as a State Rep she is immune from arrest for anything except a felony. The law explicitly says that disrupting the work of the General Assembly is a misdemeanour on the first offence, an aggravated misdemeanour on the second and a felony on the third. The arrest was therefore unlawful and therefore the charge of resisting (the felony charge) is bogus. Interestingly the arresting officer swore to the magistrate judge that she had committed the interference with the Assembly three times. Despite the fact that the county records clearly show only the current arrest.
Jim Crow is alive and well.
Found the thread here.
By the way, that painting behind him is Calloway Plantation.
Arrgghh. Thank you Rob.
This is so enRAging.
Someone on Twitter pointed out the plantation painting to me just as you were posting this.
It’s just STUNNING to me. I can hear all the eyes rolling at that, at how clueless of me it is to be stunned by it, and the eye-rollers are right. But it is.