Thread: Chalk writing on sidewalk, free speach or 13 years in prison?

Man faces 13 years in prison, $13K in fines for writing on city sidewalks with chalk

City says Jeff Olson's actions were vandalism






06/25/2013
Last Updated: 4 hours ago
Marie Coronel | Email Me SAN DIEGO - The case against a North Park man who wrote anti-big bank messages on city sidewalks with chalk will go to trial, a judge decided Tuesday.

Jeff Olson is charged with 13 counts of vandalism and is facing 13 years in jail, as well as $13,000 in restitution fees.

Olson calls the charges heavy-handed and describes what he did as free speech.

"I was encouraging folks to close their accounts at big Wall Street banks to transfer their money local nonprofit, community credit unions," said Olson.

Surveillance pictures showed him writing on the sidewalks of banks using children's chalk to promote anti-big bank websites. Olson told 10News he did this more than a dozen times at three different locations in Hillcrest and North Park.

"Free speech is protected; just because you don't like what it says doesn't mean that you can't do it," he said. "If I had drawn a little girl's hopscotch squares on the street, we wouldn't be here today."

However, the San Diego City Attorney's Office said Olson broke the law and considered his writings to be vandalism.

According to Olson, one of the banks -- Bank of America -- said it cost them $6,000 to clean up the chalk writing.

Jury selection for this case begins Tuesday afternoon.

http://www.10news.com/news/jeff-olson-man-who-used-chalk-to-protest-big-banks-faces-13-years-in-prison-13k-in-fines-062513

Sometimes it is hard to find words....perhaps 'overkill?'
o·ver·kill
def 3. An excess of what is necessary or appropriate for a particular end

This is crazy they would charge him with that over chalk on a sidewalk!

W

Not guilty verdict for San Diego chalk protester

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press
Updated 2:25 pm, Monday, July 1, 2013

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A jury on Monday acquitted an activist of vandalism charges for chalking anti-bank slogans on San Diego sidewalks, delivering a swift verdict on a prosecution that the city's own mayor said was "stupid."
Jeff Olson, 40, turned to his attorney, nodded and smiled as verdicts were read on charges that could have sent him to jail for 13 years — one year for each misdemeanor count — and brought a $13,000 fine. He was charged with scrawling messages with water-soluble chalk on city sidewalks outside Bank of America branches from April to August 2012, including "Shame on B of A," ''No thanks, big banks," and a drawing of an octopus reaching for dollar bills.
The San Diego Superior Court jury deliberated five hours after a four-day trial that pitted Mayor Bob Filner against City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, whose office called the case a legitimate effort to fight graffiti. Jail time is highly unusual for graffiti convictions, which typically result in fines or community service.
Filner called it a "nonsense prosecution" that responded to complaints from Bank of America.
"It's washable chalk, it's political slogans," Filner said last week. "We're not even responding to the public's complaint ... I think it's a stupid case. It's costing us money."
Regan Savilla, chief deputy of the city attorney's neighborhood prosecution unit, declined to comment to reporters after the verdict.
Olson, who was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, said he was relieved by the outcome and that the prosecution brought more attention to his views than he ever imagined possible.
"I couldn't have done better if I rented an airplane with a banner and put billboards up all over town," he said.
Still, he isn't planning on more sidewalk scrawls.
"I going to think of a more creative way to get my message across," he said.
The prosecution was the latest tiff between San Diego's mayor and elected city attorney. Earlier this year, the mayor was a witness at a trial on behalf of an animal-rights activist for seals who was prosecuted for removing a flag at a beach that was declared open to the public. After the testimony, activist Bryan Pease pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing.
Filner, who last month used his veto power to cut $500,000 from the city attorney's budget, crashed a Goldsmith news conference in February amid a dispute over how to spend money to promote tourism. Filner accused the city attorney of "unethical and unprofessional conduct," saying he was giving legal advice through news media.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/Not-guilty-verdict-for-San-Diego-chalk-protester-4641203.php