Crim Law 1 Final Exam (Updated)

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(Photo credit: not the bee)

A 46-year-old man named Danilo Silva decided the best way to spend his Sunday was to vote in Brazil's election at Miami-Dade College and then sneak out to his car, slip on a replica ICE uniform, and start prowling the polling site to see how the Brazilians would react.

(Apparently, all the expats of South American countries have remote polling available in America.)

From the Miami Herald:

Uniformed sheriff's deputies and plain-clothes detectives with the agency's Homeland Security Bureau 'saturated' the campus when they received reports about him, the report states.

At one point a man confronted Silva and the two began arguing. That's when detectives stepped in, according to the report. Detectives asked Silva if he was an ICE agent, and he said he wasn't.

He said the ICE gear was a costume he bought on Amazon, according to the report. He was also defiant and told detectives he wasn't breaking the law by dressing as a federal agent, the report states.

Silva was charged with voter intimidation; conspiracy to commit bribery (he offered the arresting cops some cash if they’d release him); unlawful use of law enforcement insignia; disorderly conduct; and threatening or influencing a public servant”. They probably have him on the bribery charge and disorderly conduct, but are any of the other charges applicable to this case? I think not.

Problems with prosecution as I see it:

1. Federal voter-intimidation law probably doesn't apply

18 U.S.C. § 594, the federal criminal voter-intimidation statute. prohibits intimidation intended to interfere with voting, but expressly ties the prohibition to elections involving candidates for specified United States federal offices.

A Brazilian presidential election plainly doesn't satisfy that requirement.

2. Florida's own Voter Protection Act also — probably — doesn’t reach this behavior; did the legislature intend to criminalize interference with any election conducted on Florida soil, or only elections governed by American law?

A person may not directly or indirectly use or threaten to use force, violence, or intimidation or any tactic of coercion or intimidation to induce or compel an individual to:

(a) Vote or refrain from voting;

(b) Vote or refrain from voting for any particular individual or ballot measure.

The law doesn’t expressly mention domestic elections, but would a court rule that the state has any legitimate interest in foreign elections, or even jurisdiction? Doubtful.

3. Intent

Even if the statute covers Brazilian elections – doubtful — the prosecution still must prove the required purpose.

Silva told investigators that he only wanted to see people's reactions; he was pulling a prank on his fellow Brazilians. There’s a differrence between Intending to frighten people and intending, through intimidation, to compel people to refrain from voting.

4. Is it unlawful to wear a jacket, available on Amazon for thirty bucks, if it is emblazoned “ICE”? What if a street vendor selling cool drinks wears one in public to advertise his wares? Is that really an “unlawful wearing of law enforcement insignia”?

You have 30 minutes; remember to sign your exam booklet and return it to the Proctor as you leave.

Criminality on the sands of miAMI?

UPDATE: I had meant to add, but forgot to add this — now I will. The ultimate irony here would be if Mr. Silva is himself an illegal alien; he did try to bribe his way out of being arrested, after all. If he is, and the authorities are sure to check, he’ll be boxed and shipped back to Brazil faster than he can say “Vote cedo e varias vezes!”