In 2018, Marsha Ervin was released from prison after being accused of elderly neglect for the death of her 86-year-old mother. In September 2023, she was arrested again.
As officials recounted the story of her mother, who refused a doctor due to her religious beliefs, advocacy groups came to Ervin’s defense. But she wasn’t arrested again because of her mother. She was arrested for voter fraud.
Ervin’s felony conviction meant removal from voting rolls in 2017. But in 2020, she was allowed to register again. That year, she voted, and again in 2022.
Many questioned why the state wasn’t responsible for confirming her voter status in the first place.
Ervin’s story drew national attention, and charges were eventually dropped. But the trap it set for Ervin and many others remains.
The criminal legal system can punish people multiple times based on one crime. In Ervin’s case, it was a voter fraud accusation weaponized to criminalize her again for her mother’s death. For others, it’s immigration or poverty-related.
The system’s logic says that no matter what you do, you're forever a criminal after that original "crime."
That logic failed to incarcerate Ervin again. But let’s also ask: what did criminalizing Ervin for the first time achieve?
When we question the system’s method of double punishment, what else might we find about punishment altogether?