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Jury finds protester not guilty in chalk-vandalism case
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- sirsar 13y agoGood, we've acquitted the guy with children's chalk. Now can we please jail those responsible for the illegal foreclosures?
- jayfuerstenberg 13y agoIt hasn't happened in the last 4 years and it won't in the next 4. The only way to bring justice to banks is to cause a run on them. Take your money out and put it in a small, local credit union. You'll be glad you did, if only for the level of service you'll receive.
- cheald 13y agoAnother option is USAA. Unlike their insurance, you don't have to be a member of the military to use their banking services. They are an online-only bank and have magnificent customer service. I switched to them from Wells Fargo a few years back and can't recommend them enough.
- Phlarp 13y agoIf you've ever used a banks website an thought to yourself "This is fucking retarded, who built this pile of shit" switch to USAA. If only for the superior web presence, it's the best thing ever.
- jayfuerstenberg 13y agoThanks for sharing this tip.
- Osiris 13y agoSimple is another online only bank that I've been using. I have a few invites available for anyone that's interested.
- charlieflowers 13y agoI switched to USAA too. Overall I've been happy, but I must admit it's a pain in the butt to get money in there. The only easy way to get money there is direct deposit. If they'd fix that somehow, it would be fantastic.
- cheald 13y agoYou can take a check to a UPS store[1]. If you're a customer of their car insurance, you can also deposit checks directly by taking a picture of them with your phone via their app[2] - I realize that's not accessible to many folks though. [1] https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/usaa_easy_deposits_main https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/usaa_easy_deposits_main [2] https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/mobile_banking_dm?akredirect=true https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/mobile_banking_dm?akredirect...
- e3pi 13y agoI think you have it. Nice day for an outing, have the youngsters color chalk horsies, flowers, sunbursts, in front of Chase.
- kanja 13y agoIn all of the bad news about the system, this makes me feel pretty good
- lightyrs 13y agoDismayed that this is news. This guy should have never been charged. Now we're surprised he wasn't convicted. SMH.
- scottshea 13y agoIt should have been one of those news stories that are saved for the 'look at the absurdity' humor sections of the news. It does seem to illustrate the political fighting that has gripped the nation though. The Mayor and DA hold opposite views and drug this into the open. My tendency is to agree with the mayor; massive waste of money. On the other hand it does serve as a small legal precedent now so I guess there is some absolute value. Maybe.
- jessaustin 13y agoThat the Bank of America contacted the city attorney's office to reportedly urge prosecution has become part of the dispute. Make that, they called and visited her office repeatedly over the course of many months to emphasize the quid pro quo established by previous political donations. If any corner store had made a similar ruckus for a one-time chalk-on-sidewalk "incident", the store owner would have been cited for interfering with the duties of the City Attorney. I look forward to voting for Mayor Filner when he runs for higher office. I'm also glad the jury saw fit to correct the judge's egregious Constitutional error.
- scottshea 13y agoIf I lived in San Diego I would be tempted to organize a chalk-in at BofA branches
- dustcoin 13y ago> one-time chalk-on-sidewalk "incident" It was 13 separate incidents over the course of 6 months. This is how the ridiculous 13 year sentence was derived, as the maximum penalty for each count of vandalism is 1 year.
- stretchwithme 13y agoThank god. Reason prevails!
- quackerhacker 13y agoI could not express my elation in words for this victory! I said it before when this trended on HN, that I hoped he would go to trial and not take a deal. I don't care if BOFA showed video of him doing it, he had chalk on his hands, and posted pictures up online on FB or Twitter...if I was on the jury, I would've said he wasn't guilty. Ridiculous lobbying of resources and obvious oppression by BOFA!
- jack-r-abbit 13y agoWhere did this guy get a permanent chalk WMD? Wait... you're telling me this was chalk like my kids use on my driveway nearly every weekend? The same stuff that takes about 2 seconds to hose off? No shit he's not guilty of vandalism. SMH
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- quackerhacker 13y agoJust for a reference, the old HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5948804 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5948804
- ryanac 13y agoWow... Embarrassing that this guy was ever charged in the first place. I thought it was some kind of joke when reading the title or that there was more to it, but nope, that pretty much sums it up, chalk. :|
- javert 13y agoThe public should have zero tolerance for graffiti and vandalism of public property. This guy should have been fined and stuck in jail for 30 days. End of story. I heard they were trying to put him away for 13 years. That is gross abuse by the justice system. If I were on the jury, I would also declare him not guilty, even though he is. P.S. You do not have a first amendment right to write on public property. People who are too stupid to understand that, don't actually deserve first amendment rights (though I will still defend their rights, anyway).
- jakejake 13y agoIt's pathetic that they trumped up the offense so that writing in chalk would amount to almost the same amount of time as if he had robbed the bank.
- nknighthb 13y agoStrange, I'd previously been under the impression your username was intended to be ironic.
- javert 13y agoI'm glad that you got the reference, and it was never intended to be ironic. I always liked that character. Of course, I also liked Jean Valjean. Part of the genius of Hugo, and Romantic literature in general, is that you can have profoundly good characters on opposing sides.
- vy8vWJlco 13y ago30 days for chalk that washes off the first time it rains? Gum on the street is more disruptive IMHO.
- ajross 13y agoWith chalk. He "wrote" on public property with chalk. Are you in favor of prosecuting people for "Lost Dog" signs stapled to telephone poles too? Good grief. Thankfully our courts have historically taken a rather broader view of the limits of political speech than you have. "Too stupid to deserve rights" indeed. That was just disgraceful, stop it.
- coyotebush 13y agoBeside the point, but "a 40-year-old man" "He was a civil rights activist in the 1960s" doesn't really add up.
- jessaustin 13y agoThe former is the defendant. The latter is the mayor, who commented on the case.
- coyotebush 13y agoOops, that's right.
- alayne 13y agoJan Goldsmith needs a new job.
- nknighthb 13y agoWhat exactly is going on in San Diego's voting booths, anyway? A Republican city attorney on a crusade against chalk, and a far-left civil rights activist mayor? I'm reading through Filner's record, and the guy looks like a much older version of me. I'm left-wing enough that I think Berkeley would be scared of me, nevermind San Diego.
- tlrobinson 13y agoWas he actually facing jail time for this, or was the "13 years" line fed to the media by him/his defense? Jail time for writing in chalk is absurd, but surely he deserved some reasonable punishment for doing this 13 times. A small fine and/or community service seems appropriate.
- bobwaycott 13y ago> ... surely he deserved some reasonable punishment for doing this 13 times. Write the following, in chalk, 13 times in front of Bank of America: I will not write in front of your premises in chalk.
- adestefan 13y agoThe 13 years was hyped up by some small newspaper in San Diego. If found guilty it probably would have been a fine.
- jmomo 13y agoThis seems to be a classic case of jury nullification. He was clearly guilty, but the jury refused to find him guilty.
- gfodor 13y agoI respect the jury's decision but have a had time swallowing that anyone who wants to should be able to systematically slander a business in chalk 13 times and it not be considered some sort of crime. Poor precedent. Should have gotten a slap on the wrist.
- jjoonathan 13y agoIANAL, but AFAIK Slander involves communicating a falsehood. "BoA stole $10T of lunch money from children in Africa" would be slander (outside of the context of this post and the fact that it is a clearly ridiculous assertion). "No Thanks, Big Banks" (a representative example of what the guy actually wrote) is not slander. The charges were for vandalism, which arguably has a place in political discourse and arguably doesn't even deserve a slap on the wrist.
- gfodor 13y agoFair enough on the slander point, but how does this not set a precedent for people to start spamming political messages all over sidewalks in front of Evil Corporation of The Month? The only real reasoning I could see is that perhaps just the fear of being sentence was deterrence enough.
- nknighthb 13y agoPersonally, I'd be thrilled to have such a precedent. Seriously. It's a sidewalk. When not covered in chalk, it's just a boring surface. Protests, political slogans, landscapes, ponies, shrines to $deity of your choice, ads for the competing coffee shop on the next street, I'll take it all.
- gfodor 13y agoLets break it down logically. I think most people would agree this guy should be found guilty if he had used spraypaint to deface sidewalks 13 times. Spraypaint, like chalk, is removable too, it just requires more effort and cost. Removing the chalk, according to BoA, cost a few thousand dollars. (Probably because they had to hire someone come with a power washer, and weren't going to ask their employees to do it.) I guess my question is, why is chalk different than spraypaint in the eyes of the law? Is it because the rain will wash it away, or because the relative cost to washing it away with a hose is low compared to more permanent media? What if there is no hose access to the sidewalk in an area where there is no rain for weeks at a time? Where is the line drawn?
- noonespecial 13y agoThis is why when you are summoned for jury duty, go.
- pezh0re 13y agoAssuming your case is one that actually goes to trial as opposed to the tons that settle.
- fnordfnordfnord 13y agoMore cases like this, and people may become brave enough to forgo extortive settlements.
- _delirium 13y agoHere's some discussion of the legal issues, mostly based on another recent chalk-vandalism prosecution: http://www.volokh.com/2013/07/01/chalking-and-the-first-amendment/ http://www.volokh.com/2013/07/01/chalking-and-the-first-amen...