Nightmare Over for Crystal Mason, Highest Criminal Court in Texas Dismisses State’s Petition for Review

CONTACT:
Kristi Gross, ACLU of Texas, [email protected]
Inga Sarda-Sorensen, ACLU National, [email protected]
Texas Civil Rights Project, [email protected]

AUSTIN, Texas — The Court of Criminal Appeals today let stand a lower court's ruling that acquitted Crystal Mason of illegal voting by dismissing the state’s petition for review as improvidently granted. The lower court’s decision vacates Mason’s conviction in Mason v. State and should mark the end to a nearly decade-long legal battle to defend her innocence.

The lower court’s decision found there was insufficient evidence to show that Mason knew she was ineligible to vote. She had faced up to five years in prison.

“In all these years I never lost my faith that justice would be done,” said Crystal Mason (she/her). “I am so happy my nightmare is over and I can move on. I hope people who hear my story are encouraged to make their voices heard and to get out and vote. If the right to vote weren’t so important, they wouldn’t be trying to take it away.”

Mason, a Black mother of three from Fort Worth, was convicted of illegal voting for submitting a provisional ballot in 2016 that was never counted as a vote. She believed she was fulfilling her civic duty and had no idea the state considered her ineligible to vote. The Texas Second Court of Appeals reversed Crystal Mason’s conviction, and the Court of Criminal Appeals upheld that decision.

Mason was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the national ACLU, and the Texas Civil Rights Project, along with criminal defense attorney Alison Grinter and civil rights attorney Kim T. Cole.

The following quotes can be attributed to members of her legal team:

Tommy Buser-Clancy (he/him), senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas: “Civic participation without fear of imprisonment is a cherished right that is critical to our system of democracy. Today’s decision by the highest criminal court in Texas affirms that right by letting the lower court’s decision stand. Ms. Mason has spent nearly a decade defending this right in Texas and today we see that her efforts have been successful not only in defending her own freedom, but also in protecting the ability of Texans across the state to participate in our democracy without fear.”

Sophia Lin Lakin (she/her), director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project: “Crystal Mason has courageously fought this injustice for years, and we are thrilled by the Court of Criminal Appeals’ action today.”

Zachary Dolling (he/him), litigation director for the Texas Civil Rights Project: “Ms. Mason should never have been prosecuted in the first place, and although she’ll never get back the years of her life she spent fighting against this unjust prosecution, she can at least move on now. The Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision to let Ms. Mason’s acquittal stand was the right decision, and today we celebrate Ms. Mason’s bravery and courage over the past six years.”

Alison Grinter (she/her), criminal defense attorney: “This is a momentous day for voting rights in Texas. For nearly ten years, Ms. Mason had to wake up each morning knowing the state was threatening to imprison her for simply doing her civic duty. Tomorrow, she’ll wake up with that burden lifted, knowing that her effort to participate in our democracy should never have been criminalized and that she can continue to do the voter empowerment work that she has been championing for all of these years.”

Kim T. Cole (she/her), civil attorney for Mason: “We are grateful that the Court allowed Crystal Mason’s acquittal to stand and finally brought this nearly decade-long injustice to an end. For years, while Crystal lived with the agonizing threat of having her freedom ripped away, she turned her pain into purpose—educating and registering voters and fighting to protect the very right that led to her prosecution. However, justice does not end with an acquittal. Crystal suffered through years of legal battles against a prosecution which we have always maintained was politically motivated and never should happened.”

Access the Court of Criminal Appeals brief: https://www.aclutx.org/app/uploads/2026/09/CrystalMasonTexas.pdf