Douglass Mackey, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration over a meme, has seen his conviction tossed by the Second Circuit Court of appeals. Mackey broke the news on X, saying in all caps "Breaking: The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out my conviction for lack of evidence. The case has ben remanded to the district court with orders to immediately dismiss."
"Praise God," Mackey added, who had been sentenced to 7 months in federal prison after his conviction. After his March 2023 conviction, the appellate court sided with Mackey that December and dropped the prison sentence until the appeal had been completed.
Mackey was prosecuted after sharing a meme during the 2016 election season that joked Hillary Clinton supporters should text in their vote. It was a joke, but Biden's Department of Justice under Attorney General Merrick Garland accused him of election interference. Despite their claim, they could not provide evidence that anyone had been fooled by the meme into thinking that they should text their vote. This lack of evidence was not concerning to the DOJ, who also suggested that Mackey was racist because of the meme.
The meme in question
"Mackey was convicted of conspiring to injure citizens in the exercise of their right to vote in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241 based on three memes he posted or reposted on Twitter shortly before the 2016 presidential election. These memes falsely suggested that supporters of then-candidate Hillary Clinton could vote by text message. On appeal, Mackey argues, inter alia, that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he knowingly agreed to join the charged conspiracy. We agree," the ruling states.
Mackey spoke out after the appelate court ruling suspended his prison sentence pending appeal, saying "The Second Circuit Court of Appeals just overruled the District Court in granting our motion for bond pending appeal. This ruling is huge because it means that the appeals court decided that my appeal presents 'substantial' and 'debatable' issues of law that, if resolved in my favor, will result in my conviction being vacated. The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that my appeal was frivolous and that this was a typical election crime case like any other in U.S. history. This is a very encouraging step towards vindication."
That court has just thrown out the conviction entirely. Mackey said the ruling was a "unanimous decision by both Republican and Democrat judges."
"I would like to thank God, thank my family, thank my beautiful wife, attorney Andrew Frisch, the incredible attorneys at Jones Day, and YOU—the friends who prayed and donated and spread the word since day one," he wrote.
