Legal Information
Writing's on the wall for graffiti guerrilla
Writing's on the wall for graffiti guerrilla Notorious S.F. tagger hit with $20,000 fine
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Carlos Romero left his spray-painted graffiti marks around San Francisco for years, tagging everything from fences and walls to street signs and trash cans with such monikers as CREAM and QUESO (which in Spanish means cheese).
And it wasn't just dairy products he had an affinity for. When police linked Romero to one tag name, city officials said, he would simply switch to another, and in addition to CREAM and QUESO he left a trail…
Read moreBORF gets a Month in Jail
Stencil Archive stands in solidarity with BORF and all other artists who end up in bogus judicial systems that support property rights.
From the Washington Post
The teenage graffiti vandal known as Borf got tagged yesterday -- with 30 days in the D.C. jail and a dressing-down that no one in the courtroom will soon forget.
Borf, aka [not gonna give his real name out], chose not to address the judge who was deciding his fate. But D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz had a lot to say to the young anarchist from Northern Virginia. She didn't paint a pretty picture.
"You profess to despise rich people," she said. "You profess to despise the faceless, nameless forms of government that oppress. That's what you've become. That's what you are. You're a rich kid who comes into Washington and defaces property because you feel like it. It's not fair. It's not right."
Prolific like few local taggers before him, the 18-year-old [name…
The Right to Bear Cameras
Go to the blog post
Tonight Flickr pals Ropeboy, Aqui-Ali, Ranjit and I all went down to Oakland's warehouse district to shoot. No sooner had we begun than we were stopped and confronted by Sheriffs. They required each of us to turn over our IDs and then proceeded to detain us for about 20 minutes. Admitedly there is a small power plant and trains down in the district but ask yourself this, should carrying a camera result in this kind of harrasment? Should the police be able to randomly stop you and run your ID for warrants or a background check merely for being in the wrong place with a camera? There is a chill in the air in this country right now but I'm not sure that taking it out on the rights of photographers is the correct answer. We were…
Read moreVandalism or Art? Part II in the SF Chronicle
The public space belongs to everyone and no one. Caught in the middle are those who treasure public art and those who would paint over it.
Steven Winn, Chronicle Arts and Culture Critic
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
When she first appeared, on a wall in San Francisco's Mission District, the woman smiled in sunny contentment as she patted a fresh tortilla in her hands. A large, skillfully shaded water pitcher stood nearby and beyond, an airy Mexican mountainscape stretched down the block. Today her smile looks pale and wan. Graffiti taggers have had their way with this mural at the corner of 24th and Florida streets. They've inscribed the white tortilla with their signatures and marched over the landscape with their spray cans. The mural itself, meanwhile, has faded, as if it were sinking back into the surface under the pressure of these multiple assaults.
Most viewers would likely agree that this is a sorry and degraded sight. Vandalism perpetrated on…
Vandalism or Art? Part I in the SF Chronicle
The urge to express oneself by writing on a blank wall is as old and primal as cave painting. But one tagger's colorful imagery is another person's ugly scrawl. One thing is certain: Graffiti's not going away.
Steven Winn, Chronicle Arts and Culture Critic
Monday, March 7, 2005
The boxy white truck chuffed up 18th Street and pulled over near the intersection at South Van Ness. Four Department of Public Works employees, clad in white jumpsuits and bright orange vests, got out, opened the back door and pulled out their supplies. With rollers and buckets of Mail Box Blue, Feather Gray and Navajo White, the crew set to work painting out a swarm of spray-can signatures, insignias, pictures and slogans. The first thing they covered was this waggish line on a stucco wall: "fresh out of college and I turn to a life of vandalism."
The graffiti, which on first glance seemed apparent only on the broad surfaces of buildings and mail boxes, was everywhere.…
Know Your Rights in the USA
From the ACLU: To fight police abuse effectively you need to know your rights. There are some things you should do, some things you must do and some things you cannot do. If you are in the middle of a police encounter, you need a handy and quick reference to remind you what your rights and obligations are.- Be polite and respectful. Never bad-mouth a police officer.
- Stay calm and in control of your words, body language and emotions.
- Don't get into an argument with the police.
- Remember, anything you say or do can be used against you.
- Keep your hands where the police can see them.
- Don't run. Don't touch any police officer.
- Don't resist even if you believe you are innocent.
- Don't complain on the scene or tell the police they're wrong or that you're going to file a complaint.
- Do not make any statements regarding the incident. Ask for a lawyer immediately upon your arrest. …
LA Municipal Code for Graffiti
"Graffiti" means any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, painting or other defacement that is written, marked, etched, scratched, sprayed, drawn, painted, or engraved on or otherwise affixed to or on any surface of county-owned property or non-county-owned property within the unincorporated area of the county by or with, but not limited to, any of the following: felt-tip marker, paint stick or graffiti stick, or graffiti implement, to the extent that the same was not authorized in advance by the owner or occupant thereof, or, despite advance authorization, is otherwise deemed by the board to be a public nuisance.
13.12 GRAFFITI PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REMOVAL
13.12.020. Definitions.
For the purposes of this title, the following words shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section:
"Aerosol paint container" means any aerosol container which is adapted or made for the purpose of applying spray painting, or other substance…
New York City Graffiti Laws
No person shall write, paint or draw any inscription, figure or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any other real or personal property owned, operated or maintained by a public benefit corporation, the city of New York or any agency or instrumentality thereof or by any person, firm, or corporation, or any personal property maintained on a city street or other city-owned property pursuant to a franchise, concession or revocable consent granted by the city, unless the express permission of the owner or operator of the property has been obtained.
SFPD Graffiti Abatement Program
The Board of Supervisors hereby finds and declares that:
(a) Graffiti is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the community in that it promotes a perception in the community that the laws protecting public and private property can be disregarded with impunity. This perception fosters a sense of disrespect of the law that results in an increase in crime; degrades the community and leads to urban blight; is detrimental to property values, business opportunities and the enjoyment of life; is inconsistent with the City's property maintenance goals and aesthetic standards; and results in additional graffiti and in other properties becoming the target of graffiti unless it is quickly removed from public and private property.
(b) Graffiti results in visual pollution and is hereby deemed a public nuisance. Graffiti must be abated as quickly as possible to…
LEGAL: Group of graffitists can be called gang
Bob Egelko, SF Chronicle
Three or more people who get together to deface a community with graffiti can be prosecuted and punished as gang members, even if they never damage anything but a building, a state appeals court has ruled.
California's anti-gang law, which provides additional punishment and registration requirements for perpetrators of gang-related crimes, applies to felony vandalism as well as violent crimes, the Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled Wednesday
The law covers "an array of crimes, both violent and nonviolent, that could terrorize a community when committed as part of a pattern by an organized group,'' Justice Patricia Sepulveda said in the 3-0 ruling.
"Vandalism is not a victimless crime,'' she said, citing the millions of dollars spent by San Francisco annually to remove graffiti.
The court reinstated gang charges against eight people indicted by a San Francisco grand jury for allegedly conspiring to paint…