Judge Fines Now-Defunct ACORN, Wanted To Give Prison Sentence

On Wednesday, a Nevada judge fined the now-defunct grassroots community organizing group ACORN the maximum $5,000 amount for its part in a voter registration compensation scheme during the 2008 election cycle.
“District Judge Donald Mosley was confined by statute to fine only the corporation, which pleaded guilty in April to one count of felony compensation for registration of voters,” read an article for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Mosley said that if there were an individual standing before him, and not a corporation, that person would have been given a 10-year prison sentence, ‘and I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.’”
According to the article, prosecutors in the case alleged that ACORN set up an illegal voter-registration program during the 2008 election cycle. The program allegedly used cash incentives to get workers to sign up voters and forced workers to meet sign-up quotas or face termination.
“The 40-year-old group, which once counted President Barack Obama among its ranks in Chicago, came under fire in recent years for its voter registration tactics,” the article read. “Congress effectively killed off the group when it slashed the organization’s federal funding after a hidden-camera sting by conservative operatives showing ACORN workers giving advice on illegal activities.”