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United States of America v. Douglas MacKey, aka Richy Vaughn
Date: 07-09-2025
Case Number:
Judge: Donnelly
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (King County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: ERIK D. PAULSEN, Assistant United States<br> Attorney (Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting<br> Assistant Attorney General, Corey R.<br> Amundson, Chief, Public Integrity Section,<br> William Gullotta, Trial Attorney, Nicholas J.<br> Moscow, Assistant United States Attorney,<br> Frank Turner Buford, Assistant United<br> States Attorney, on the brief), for Breon Peace,<br> United States Attorney for the Eastern<br> District of New York, Brooklyn, NY.<br> (Jon M. Greenbaum, Edward G. Caspar,<br> Ezra D. Rosenberg, Marc P. Epstein, Pooja<br> Chaudhuri, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil<br> Rights Under Law, Washington, DC, for<br> amicus curiae Lawyers’ Committee for Civil<br> Rights Under Law)<br> (Tobin Raju, David A. Schulz, Media<br> Freedom & Information Access Clinic,<br> Abrams Institute, Yale Law School, New<br> Haven, CT, Richard L. Hasen, UCLA School<br> of Law, Los Angeles, CA, Cameron O.<br> Kistler, Catherine Chen, The Protect<br> Democracy Project, Inc., Washington, DC,<br> for amicus curiae Professor Richard L. Hasen)
Defendant's Attorney: YAAKOV M. ROTH (Eric S. Dreiband, Joseph P. Falvey, Caleb P. Redmond, Harry S. Graver, on the brief), Jones Day, Washington, DC. (R. Trent McCotter, Jonathan Berry, Michael Buschbacher, Jared M. Kelson, Andrew W. 3 Smith, Boyden Gray PLLC, Washington, DC, Gene P. Hamilton, America First Legal Foundation, Washington, DC, for amicus curiae America First Legal Foundation) (Matthew L. Schwartz, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, New York, NY, Eric M. Palmer, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for amici curiae Former Department of Justice Officials) (Talmadge Butts, Foundation for Moral Law, Montgomery, AL, for amicus curiae Foundation for Moral Law) (Kyle Singhal, Hopwood & Singhal PLLC, Washington, DC, Joshua L. Dratel, Law Offices of Dratel & Lewis, New York, NY, for amicus curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) (Russell B. Balikian, Cody M. Poplin, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Washington, DC, for amicus curiae Professor Eugene Volokh) (Reilly Stephens, Liberty Justice Center, Chicago, IL, for amicus curiae Liberty Justice Center) (Jeffrey A. Hall, Burke Law Group, PLLC, Washington, DC, for amici curiae Criminal Law Professors Daniel D. Polsby and Craig S. Lerner)
<br>
The parties do not dispute either (1) that Mackey posted the memes or (2)<br>
that his doing so independently would not be a crime under Section 241. Section<br>
241 criminalizes only conspiracies between "two or more persons.†As a result,<br>
the mere fact that Mackey posted the memes, even assuming that he did so with<br>
the intent to injure other citizens in the exercise of their right to vote, is not enough,<br>
standing alone, to prove a violation of Section 241. The government was<br>
obligated to show that Mackey knowingly entered into an agreement with other<br>
people to pursue that objective. See United States v. Scott, 979 F.3d 986, 990 (2d<br>
Cir. 2020).
<br>
Reversed.
About This Case
What was the outcome of United States of America v. Douglas MacKey, aka Richy Vaughn?
The outcome was: The Defendant was found guilty. Reversed.
Which court heard United States of America v. Douglas MacKey, aka Richy Vaughn?
This case was heard in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (King County), NY. The presiding judge was Donnelly.
Who were the attorneys in United States of America v. Douglas MacKey, aka Richy Vaughn?
Plaintiff's attorney: ERIK D. PAULSEN, Assistant United States Attorney (Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Corey R. Amundson, Chief, Public Integrity Section, William Gullotta, Trial Attorney, Nicholas J. Moscow, Assistant United States Attorney, Frank Turner Buford, Assistant United States Attorney, on the brief), for Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NY. (Jon M. Greenbaum, Edward G. Caspar, Ezra D. Rosenberg, Marc P. Epstein, Pooja Chaudhuri, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, DC, for amicus curiae Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) (Tobin Raju, David A. Schulz, Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic, Abrams Institute, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT, Richard L. Hasen, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA, Cameron O. Kistler, Catherine Chen, The Protect Democracy Project, Inc., Washington, DC, for amicus curiae Professor Richard L. Hasen). Defendant's attorney: YAAKOV M. ROTH (Eric S. Dreiband, Joseph P. Falvey, Caleb P. Redmond, Harry S. Graver, on the brief), Jones Day, Washington, DC. (R. Trent McCotter, Jonathan Berry, Michael Buschbacher, Jared M. Kelson, Andrew W. 3 Smith, Boyden Gray PLLC, Washington, DC, Gene P. Hamilton, America First Legal Foundation, Washington, DC, for amicus curiae America First Legal Foundation) (Matthew L. Schwartz, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, New York, NY, Eric M. Palmer, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for amici curiae Former Department of Justice Officials) (Talmadge Butts, Foundation for Moral Law, Montgomery, AL, for amicus curiae Foundation for Moral Law) (Kyle Singhal, Hopwood & Singhal PLLC, Washington, DC, Joshua L. Dratel, Law Offices of Dratel & Lewis, New York, NY, for amicus curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) (Russell B. Balikian, Cody M. Poplin, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Washington, DC, for amicus curiae Professor Eugene Volokh) (Reilly Stephens, Liberty Justice Center, Chicago, IL, for amicus curiae Liberty Justice Center) (Jeffrey A. Hall, Burke Law Group, PLLC, Washington, DC, for amici curiae Criminal Law Professors Daniel D. Polsby and Craig S. Lerner).
When was United States of America v. Douglas MacKey, aka Richy Vaughn decided?
This case was decided on July 9, 2025.