Be careful where you spraypaint "Troops Out Now" in Ohio....

[marmar]

Mike Ferner Gets House Arrest and Fines for Spraypainting "TROOPS OUT NOW!" on a Highway Overpass
Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2006-08-04 20:52. Nonviolent Resistance
By Mike Ferner

friends:

lucas county common pleas judge charles wittenberg sentenced me this morning for the two felonies i was convicted of last month for spraypainting "TROOPS OUT NOW!" on a highway overpass near toledo. here's the "box score," as they say in baseball:

2 months electronically monitored house arrest.
18 months probation
court costs, plus cost of prosecution
1/2 of cost of ohio dept. of transp.'s (total ripoff, in my humble opinion) estimate for repainting the overpass (my brother is paying the other half).

dollar-wise that's:

"installation fee" for the electronic monitoring (i kid yoiu not) $ 40.00
usage fee for electronic monitoring @ $60/week 480.00
court costs 75.00
cost of prosecution (who knows, but likely) 2,000.00 +
1/2 of repainting overpass 1,800.00

earlier this week, i sent the judge the attached letter and he read it aloud in court today. he responded by saying this was not a case of civil disobedience, but one of vandalism and it was his duty to uphold the law. while it's not surprising he would say that, and i have to say he was fair during the trial, it does make one wonder what the penalty would have been if i'd written "I heart Sue" instead of "TROOPS OUT NOW!"

so ends this small episode in the resistance to our criminal war in iraq. i'm not happy with the result, but i have no regrets for taking that can of spraypaint and writing "TROOPS OUT NOW!" over u.s. 23. thousands of people in this area and elsewhere were confronted with the news of this case and had to stop and think, if only briefly, about this war instead of sleepwalking past the bodies. whatever discomfort or inconvenience i'll go through is nothing compared to what our troops, and even more so, the people of iraq are subjected to every day.

my sincere thanks to the two dozen or more peace activists from toledo who came to the sentencing today, and thank you, near or distant email friends, for your interest and support.

be well. raise hell.
mike

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/13563

[DRoseDARs]

1. Last I checked, graffiti was illegal in most places...

...while the dollar amounts are a bit absurd and you're probably right about them being a little harder on you with your message than they would have if it had been a love note, you still probably violated a city/county/state law about defacing public property. You should have marked some plain cardboard and then secured the sign instead.

[marmar]

5. I didn't do it...

Just posting. I don't live in Ohio and have no idea who Mike Ferner is. :)

[NNN0LHI]

18. Yea, sure. Likely excuse. Tell it to the judge

:P

[purduejake]

19. haha, sorry =) n/t

[EFerrari]

10. So is murder, unless the State does it. n/t

/t-> s

[DRoseDARs]

25. Apples and terracotta birdbaths... Quite the leap from graffiti to murder.

:eyes:

[EFerrari]

29. It made sense at the time. lol

:shrug:

[purduejake]

2. Maybe it is different in Ohio....

but here in Chicago I have the impression they go after everybody. Even if I agree with your message, I don't like the idea of spraypainting public property - how about wearing a T-Shirt or placing signs in your yard?

With that said, I'm sorry you were caught... it does seem like a tough sentence.

[beyurslf]

3. I would certainly think "I heart sue" would get a much lesser sentence.

But, maybe that is a good thing. Messages spry painted on public property are obviously destroying propety, no matter what you write. However, messages that are offensive to some (whether they should be offended or not) and messages made for a political purpose should certainly be punished with a greater sentence than a simple (childish) message to a girlfriend.
I would love to see a sign like that painted. But imagine if it was "Bush is a Godly man" that you had to drive past. If the punishment for such signs is not severe, then they will surely become more and more common until every sign has something painted on it. At that point, we move from a simple and probably unoffensive sign, to one that goes for the jugular: "God hates fags" or "Shoot activist judges"

[Eric J in MN]

15. It should be the same fine, whether it's a message

...liberals like, a message we dislike, or something like "Joe hearts Sue."

The Supreme Court has ruled that restrictions on free speech must be content-neutral.

[Imagevision]

4. Graffiti a felony?? wtf!!!!

[MissWaverly]

9. hey, but if you work at the White House like Mr. Allen

and steal $5,000 worth of merchandise; the dollar amount is reduced to a misdemeanor of $500.00
and you walk on probatation. Now if he had spray painted I LOVE Bush, he would have not
only gotten off, he would have a DC job right now.

[xultar]

6. What would I get for spray painting Fuck judge charles wittenberg?

[marmar]

8. A week at Ken Blackwell's house.

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[EFerrari]

13. Naw! That also requires a hard cold cash donation. n/t

[Jim Sagle]

17. A free trip to Gitmoland.

[sam sarrha]

7. they dont paint the whole overpass, just the graffiti,and if they charge

you for painting the whole bridge, and just paint over the graffiti it is fraud..

and how is this a felony??

[sgxnk]

30. the laws vary from state to state but...

but generally speaking, vandalism becomes a felony when the damage to property exceeds whatever arbitrary threshold amount is set by that state's legislature in their vandalism statute

for example, in WA state, the threshold is
(see below)
RCW 9A.48.070 Malicious mischief in the first degree.
(1) A person is guilty of malicious mischief in the first degree if he knowingly and maliciously:
(a) Causes physical damage to the property of another in an amount exceeding one thousand five hundred dollars;
(b) Causes an interruption or impairment of service rendered to the public by physically damaging or tampering with an emergency vehicle or property of the state, a political subdivision thereof, or a public utility or mode of public transportation, power, or communication; or
(c) Causes an impairment of the safety, efficiency, or operation of an aircraft by physically damaging or tampering with the aircraft or aircraft equipment, fuel, lubricant, or parts.
(2) Malicious mischief in the first degree is a class B felony.

RCW 9A.48.080 Malicious mischief in the second degree.
(1) A person is guilty of malicious mischief in the second degree if he or she knowingly and maliciously:
(a) Causes physical damage to the property of another in an amount exceeding two hundred fifty dollars; or
(b) Creates a substantial risk of interruption or impairment of service rendered to the public, by physically damaging or tampering with an emergency vehicle or property of the state, a political subdivision thereof, or a public utility or mode of public transportation, power, or communication.
(2) Malicious mischief in the second degree is a class C felony.


RCW 9A.48.090 Malicious mischief in the third degree.
(1) A person is guilty of malicious mischief in the third degree if he or she:
(a) Knowingly and maliciously causes physical damage to the property of another, under circumstances not amounting to malicious mischief in the first or second degree; or
(b) Writes, paints, or draws any inscription, figure, or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any real or personal property owned by any other person unless the person has obtained the express permission of the owner or operator of the property, under circumstances not amounting to malicious mischief in the first or second degree.
(2)(a) Malicious mischief in the third degree under subsection (1)(a) of this section is a gross misdemeanor if the damage to the property is in an amount exceeding fifty dollars.
(b) Malicious mischief in the third degree under subsection (1)(a) of this section is a misdemeanor if the damage to the property is fifty dollars or less.
(c) Malicious mischief in the third degree under subsection (1)(b) of this section is a gross misdemeanor.

[meisje]

11. good! I hate graffiti

[EFerrari]

12. There was an Army recruitment sign up in our hood.

It drew so much very pointed writing, (Lie today, lie tomorrow), that it was taken down.

You all GO! my anti war brothers!

:toast:

[marmar]

14. "Lie today, lie tomorrow"

That's pretty good! :beer:

[EFerrari]

16. Description requires little imagination.

Good thread, marmar. :)

[purduejake]

21. Those are free game....

But bridges are a different story. Govt. propaganda - go for it! Just don't get caught!

[EFerrari]

24. I would never condone illegal behavior and purduejake is right.

Do not get caught.

[union_maid]

20. I like grafitti, myself

If it's well done and artistic. While I appreciate the sentiments of the painter, I do think that the penalty might be bad no matter what. Localities are up in arms over grafitti with no regard to content. It's the vandalism that's bothering people. Now I think that sometime's it's an improvement over a bland and utilitarian piece of architecture or subway train. I do realize that's a minority view, though.

I don't think you can call this a piece of censorship or conclude for certain that the sentiment drove the fines. It's a crime. Part of civil disobedience is doing the time.

[marmar]

22. I kinda do too...

Not scrawled over everything, but it's kind of a unique form of urban art.

[HuffleClaw]

23. $3600 to paint over grafitti?

complete bullshit.

[cmd]

26. Must be a Halliburton contract n/t

[Richard Steele]

27. You might have grounds to appeal under "equal application".

Since the Judge claims this case is just about GRAFFITI,
then does the average "I heart Sue" painter in Ohio get 2 months
of electronic home detention?

[Joanne98]

28. Police state strikes again. Ridiculous sentence and fine!