A law originally intended to protect black voters in the late 19th century is now a “powerful weapon” for the Biden administration to target its political opponents, one legal expert told the Caller.

The law is often wielded by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) to target pro-lifers protesting abortion clinics, the Daily Caller first reported. Last year, the Conspiracy Against Rights charge was levied against Douglass Mackey for a 2016 social media post and former President Donald Trump over January 6.

“I was not aware of the Biden-Harris DOJ’s abuse of this harsh conspiracy against rights statute in these other contexts, but I am not surprised,” Stephen Crampton, Senior Counsel with the Thomas More Society, told the Caller in a statement. (RELATED: ‘The First Amendment Is Done’: Tucker Sits Down With Internet Troll Convicted For 2016 Election Meme)

Douglass Mackey, known online as “Ricky Vaughn,” was charged with election interference by the Biden-Harris DOJ in 2021. The DOJ alleged in a press release that he illegally used social media to “deprive” citizens of their right to vote during the 2016 presidential election.

Douglass Mackey Case and the Meme Defense Fund

President Donald Trump: “They’re putting Douglass Mackey in jail for sharing a joking meme about Hillary Clinton seven years ago. Nobody ever heard of anything like that.”

Background: On January 27, 2021, five days after Joe…

— Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) October 31, 2024

Jimmy Kimmel instructs viewers that if they’re voting for Trump they should vote late like Thursday or Friday.

Wasn’t Douglass Mackey sentenced to prison for doing something similar?

Will @TheJusticeDept investigate Jimmy Kimmel? pic.twitter.com/cfwDl94aIZ

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 31, 2024

The charge stemmed from a complaint filed in Brooklyn which alleged Mackey “conspired” with other individuals to encourage supporters of Hillary Clinton to “vote” with text or on social media. One post stated: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” and “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925.”

Mackey was convicted of the Conspiracy Against Rights charge in 2023 and sentenced last October to seven months in prison.

“Given its expansive interpretation by the courts in years past, it has become a powerful weapon with which this corrupt administration can bludgeon its political opponents and instill fear in all who dare oppose them,” Crampton told the Caller. (RELATED: Twitter Troll Slapped With Prison Sentence Over Misleading Election Memes)

Mackey received a bond by an appeals court and has not yet gone to prison, he stated in a Twitter post.

Ep. 38 The First Amendment is done. Douglass Mackey is about to go to prison for mocking Hillary Clinton on the internet. We talked to him right before his sentencing. Remember as you watch that this could be you.

TIMESTAMPS:
(3:12) The Hillary Clinton meme
(4:20) Hillary’s… pic.twitter.com/MLwz2SboGr

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 9, 2023

The Conspiracy Against Rights charge was originally a part of the Enforcement Acts passed between 1868 and 1870, according to the DOJ. Most of the legislation was repealed in 1894, but section 241 and 242 of 18 U.S.C. survived. The law was originally intended to protect recently-enfranchised black voters, according to Reuters. The Enforcement Acts are also colloquially known as the “KKK Acts.”

The law prohibits two or more people from “[conspiring] to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person” from exercising their Constitutional rights. The charge carries hefty fines and up to ten years in prison.

The Caller reached out to the DOJ but has not heard back at the time of publication.

“The Biden Justice Department is now using this [charge] against other political enemies,” Mackey wrote in his “Meme Defense Fund.” (RELATED: Stream the Daily Caller’s documentary “Rigged” HERE)

Mackey’s case specifically has been pointed to as an example of politically motivated lawfare.

Individuals including Mackey noted that Jimmy Kimmel recently told his viewers that Trump voters should “vote very late” and on “Thursday or maybe Friday.”

Douglass Mackey was sent to prison for this. https://t.co/asYpjeh4pY

— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) October 31, 2024

Mackey was not the only prominent individual charged under the law last year.

Special Council Jack Smith prosecuted former President Donald Trump on four counts of allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election results on January 6, 2021. (RELATED: Jack Smith’s Use Of Obstruction Law Limited By Supreme Court ‘Fatally Undermines’ Case, Trump Attorneys Argue)

One of these counts included the Conspiracy Against Rights charge. The federal government alleged Trump violated the statute by “[conspiring] against the right to vote and to have one’s counted.”

….These revelations END the Sham J6 Civil Hoaxes and the lawless D.C. Case brought by Deranged Jack Smith, which has already been demolished by the United States Supreme Court’s Historic Immunity and Fischer Decisions. I called for everyone to act PEACEFULLY and PATRIOTICALLY,…

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) September 26, 2024

The complaint claims that Trump “targeted a bedrock function” of the federal government. He was also charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, and Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding.

Biden’s DOJ has a history of using the Conspiracy Against Rights law to enhance sentences.

An elderly woman, Paulette “Paula” Harlow, was one of several people sentenced to 24 months in prison this May for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and the same Conspiracy Against Rights law.