Is Justin Timberlake *actually* going to go to jail over his voter booth selfie?
With the election only a few weeks away, people are already taking advantage of their right to vote by heading down to voting booths to #RockTheVote. As we’ve seen, everyone from the likes of Jay Z, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and Justin Timberlake are highlighting how important it is to vote.
In fact, on Monday (October 24th), Justin Timberlake decided to share how important he felt his need to vote was by sharing how he’d flown from L.A. to Tennessee to vote early, uploading a selfie to Instagram of him in the voter booth.
“No excuses, my good people!… Choose to have a voice!” he said in a caption.
Unfortunately, it seemed at the time that Justin Timberlake may have made a bit of a legal faux pas.
What he didn’t know is that in the state of Tennessee it’s actually illegal to take pictures of yourself in the voting booth.
In 2015, a bill was passed in Tennessee that made the use of electronic or communication devices from being used for phone calls, photographs, or filming videos in the voting booth illegal.
Basically, by posting the picture, it was reported that Justin Timberlake could face 30 days jail time and a $50 fine. In fact, according to TMZ, the Shelby County D.A.’s office said that they were reviewing the case and that it was all under investigation.
Look WHO DID come over for lunch... Wow. #imwithher
A photo posted by Justin Timberlake (@justintimberlake) on Aug 23, 2016 at 1:31pm PDT
However, it seems that things weren’t necessarily as serious as they seemed at first.
Justin has since removed the picture from Instagram, and now the the Shelby County District Attourney General, Amy Weirich, has said that things were blown WAY out of proportion.
“The statement released earlier today by my office regarding Justin Timberlake and an investigation was incorrect and was released without my knowledge,” she said in a statement. “I am out of town at a conference. No one in our office is currently investigating this matter nor will we be using our limited resources to do so.”
Pheeewww!
Basically, it seems that this story was all a bit of a storm in a tea cup and Justin won’t be facing any jail time.
However, it does shed light on an important issue when it comes to your time to vote.
As ABC News report, there are many states in which selfies, pictures, and cell phones aren’t allowed inside the voting booth. Similarly, there are a some states where the law isn’t very specific, which means that you could be at risk of legal issues if you wanna snap that voting picture. For the full list of where selfies are and are not allowed, head over to ABC News.
We’re glad that JT isn’t going to get into any trouble over his selfie. While it was silly of him to not check the law before taking the snap, it seems that he only had good intentions and wanted to hit home how important it is to vote.
Just let it be a lesson…your voter booth selfie could get you in trouble. So, know the law before you head down to vote.
[H/T Cosmopolitan]
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