{"id":1075,"date":"2013-07-01T02:54:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T02:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2013-07-04T19:22:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-04T19:22:18","slug":"chalking-it-up-to-big-brother-guy-faces-13-years-for-sidewalk-slogans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/chalking-it-up-to-big-brother-guy-faces-13-years-for-sidewalk-slogans\/","title":{"rendered":"Chalking It Up to Big Brother, Guy Faces 13 Years For Sidewalk Slogans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOTES FROM NORSE:\u00a0\u00a0 While Santa Cruz has not cited or arrested anyone recently for chalking (that we know of–contact me at rnorse3@hotmail.com<\/a> if you know of any cases), the City moved to criminalize protest against the anti-homeless laws when they were ramped up in 2002\/2003.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The case of HUFF activist Becky Johnson:\u00a0 See http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/2003\/02\/22\/hopscotch-rebellion\/<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a> & http:\/\/santacruz.indymedia.org\/newswire\/display\/2663\/index.php<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Given the step-up in First Alarm, Panther Protective Services, and other Private Security thug surveillance downtown\u00a0 and the massive response of the SCPD to minor infractions like sitting near a building or smoking near Pacific Avenue, I suspect any overt political chalking would result in another DTA-Take-Back-Santa-Cruz attack elementary First Amendment rights.SEE ALSO COMMENTS ON THE WEBPAGE:http:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/further\/2013\/06\/29<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a><\/p>\n
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06.29.13 – 12:06 PM<\/div>\n
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Say What? Chalking It Up to Big Brother, Guy Faces 13 Years For Sidewalk Slogans<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
by Abby Zimet<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It was bad enough when Pennsylvania health care activist AJ Marin, at a demonstration against Gov. Tom Corbett’s move<\/strong><\/a> to leave over 700,000 Pennsylvania citizens uninsured, got arrested<\/strong><\/a> for chalking on a wall the\u00a0 \u201cderogatory” remark: \u201cGovernor Corbett has health insurance, we should too.\u201d Then came the start of the trial for San Diego’s Jeff Olson, arrested<\/strong><\/a> months after the fact for protesting bank bailouts by chalking – with washable kids’ chalk – “No Thanks, Big Banks” and “Shame on Bank of America.” He faces – wait for it – 13 counts of misdemeanor vandalism charges, which could send him to jail for 13 years and cost him $13,000. On the first day of his trial, a judge prohibited<\/strong><\/a> Olson’s attorney from mentioning the First Amendment, free speech, free expression, or political speech during the trial. Come to think about it, sounds about right.<\/div>\n
From the City Attorney’s Office: \u201cThe People do not fear that this reading of section 594(A) will make criminals of every child using chalk. Chalk festivals may still be permitted. Kids acting without malice may still engage in their art. Circumventing the rules, without permission, under the color of night, and now waiving a banner of the First Amendment, does not negate the fact that defacement occurred, a private business suffered real and substantial monetary damages, and Defendant is responsible.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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NOTES FROM NORSE:\u00a0\u00a0 While Santa Cruz has not cited or arrested anyone recently for chalking (that we know of–contact me at rnorse3@hotmail.com if you know of any cases), the City moved to criminalize protest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,56],"tags":[60,67,82,70],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1075"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1082,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions\/1082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}