Man faces 13 years in jail for scribbling anti-bank messages in chalk

[Locutus]

Jeff Olson, the 40-year-old man who is being prosecuted for scrawling anti-megabank messages on sidewalks in water-soluble chalk last year now faces a 13-year jail sentence. A judge has barred his attorney from mentioning freedom of speech during trial.

According to the San Diego Reader, which reported on Tuesday that a judge had opted to prevent Olson’s attorney from "mentioning the First Amendment, free speech, free expression, public forum, expressive conduct, or political speech during the trial,” Olson must now stand trial for on 13 counts of vandalism.

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California man faces 13 years in jail for scribbling anti-bank messages in chalk ? RT USA

 

[B00Mer]

LOL and the bankers that screwed the USA and everyone Pension, get's nothing.. now that's justice.

 

[SLM]

Vandalism? With chalk? Is the judge retarded?

 

[lone wolf]

Probably invests in the bank....

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

"Barring" a Constitutional defence is reversible error.

 

[Cliffy]

Isn't that unconstitutional?

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Most definitely grounds for a successful appeal. Not sure the reasoning for even prosecuting this case in the first place.

 

[Jonny_C]

Just another reason why the USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

I can see sentencing the guy to community service spent removing grafitti; that would be a punishment commensurate with the "crime", if it even is one.

 

[SLM]

I can see sentencing the guy to community service spent removing grafitti; that would be a punishment commensurate with the "crime", if it even is one.

You mean out there with an eraser putting an end to all that damned hopscotch those darned kids keep playing. Lol.

Seriously though, if some guy was scribbling stuff in chalk in front of my place and I didn't want him to, I'd be out there with a hose and we'd be playing a game of 'who gives up first'. And I'm pretty stubborn.

 

[L Gilbert]

lol Looks like the judge's looking for his decision to be overturned. That's one way of upholding the local law while seeing that nothing serious happens to Olson.

 

[relic]

And the lawyers win again,even the losers get paid.

 

[B00Mer]

Waterboard, him !!!

Maybe they can find out where he purchased the chalk..

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Just another reason why the USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Well, no, not really. We don't have all that many graffitists in our prisons.

 

[Murphy]

Wow! Can you imagine his sentence had he written those slurs in indelible ink? He would have been up on 13 counts of "super" vandalism!

 

[tay]

Common sense and sanity prevailed - perhaps unexpectedly - in San Diego today.

Now Bank of America can go back to defrauding America the old fashioned way, instead of demanding that the courts do their dirty work for them.



Apparently the jury decided that Olsen wasn't being malicious, whereas the statue says that the action must be so, and that makes good sense:


Defense attorney Tom Tosdal argued that vandalism law required jurors to find something was "maliciously defaced."
"His purpose was not malicious. His purpose was to inform," Tosdal said of his client.


The prosecution of Olson brought condemnation of the City Attorney's Office from Mayor Bob Filner, who called it a waste of time.


Unlike certain mayors who will not be named in Oakland and New York City, perhaps there is at least one sane one in these United States who doesn't think his or her City should be prosecuting peaceful protesters.



http://www.10news.com/news/verdict-in-san-diego-chalk-vandalism-case-070113

 

[L Gilbert]

Cool.

 

[Jonny_C]

Reason prevails.

Good outcome.