Update 6/12/15: HB 552 was signed into law by Governor McCrory.
The always controversial question of nuisance-versus-art is up for discussion in the North Carolina General Assembly. NC House Bill 552 establishes harsher consequences than current laws do. In the past, graffiti convictions have usually resulted in fines and community service, but if the bill is passed, a convicted offender could face heftier fines and possible jail time. The proposed law would significantly impact Asheville, a community with no shortage of artists working with spray paint on large brick and concrete canvases, as well as rashes of vandalism.
In 2008, Triangle Business Journal highlighted the construction industry’s successful efforts to change property injury laws so that vandalism resulting in more than $5,000 in damages became a felony in North Carolina. But HB 552 lowers the bar further, to $1,000 of damage or several offenses. The bill has passed in the house and awaits action in the state senate, but one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Majority Whip John Bell, is drumming up support for the measure.
According to graffitihurts.org, most offenders are teenage boys — making it possible that they could be the group most affected if HB 552 becomes law.
Graffitihurts’ statistics suggest that many of today’s graffiti artists began tagging as teenagers. One such artist is the critically acclaimed Jean-Michel Basquiat, one of the men credited with popularizing graffiti as an art form. Whether one views graffiti as a crime or a creative passion, the debate over HB 552 raises the question for North Carolina communities: How much should we allow people, including minors, to paint in pursuit of passion or voice, albeit on public or private property, before they face long-term criminal consequences?
Originally posted April 26, 2015
“most offenders are teenage boys — making it possible that they could be the group most affected..”
OMG. You mean criminals might be the group most affected by criminal laws? Make the horror stop.
“How much should we allow people, including minors, to paint in pursuit of passion or voice, albeit on public or private property, before they face long-term criminal consequences?”
Never. The destroying or defacing property violates individual rights and should be prosecuted as a crime — even if some people feel it looks oh-so artsy and adorable.
http://nchouse10.com/getting-tough-on-graffiti-vandalism/
Says Tim, a middle class, middle aged, white guy…enjoying your privilege much? And yes dear god PLEASE waste my tax dollars on encarcerating ARTISTS over PAINT, when we really should be allocating that time, money and effort on real/violent crimes that necessitate that type of sentence…
1. And your logical fallacy for today IS . . . ‘ad hominem’.
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem
2. Graffiti vandalism is a serious crime that is costing taxpayers and customers money. Minimizing the damage as “a little bit of paint” does nothing but encourage crime. The new graffiti law gives prosecutors the discretion to charge destructive property vandals with a misdemeanor or a felony violation, which ever level is warranted.
http://123graffitifree.com/#/
3. And, yes, putting violators of property rights in jail is precisely what our tax dollars are for.
http://campus.aynrand.org/more/selected-full-essays/#nature-of-government
It’s not ad-hominem to hold that your current social position blinds you to understanding that this is essentially just another “criminalize the poor and black” law.
And no, graffiti is not a “serious crime” that warrants jail time, no matter your attempts to characterize it as such.
Ron Moore, then Buncombe County District Attorney, asked for changes in the graffiti law a few years ago to help efforts in Asheville to combat graffiti vandalism.
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/06/11/graffiti-felony-possum-drop-bills-become-law/71086164/
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I disagree that this is a “black” issue. Young — yes, not upper class, yes, but graffiti taggers aren’t only black. For example, the EAWS tagger:
http://www.wyff4.com/news/apd-graffiti-vandal-wanted-after-posting-pics-on-social-media/25774464
17 years old and white.
“this is essentially just another “criminalize the poor and black” law.”
It is not criminalizing people, it is criminalizing behavior.
Besides, anyone who has paid much attention has seen that the vast majority of arrests that have occurred for graffiti in Asheville have been white hipsters.
I should have been clearer, I meant it as two separate groups.
Yes, it is just another attempt to criminalize poverty. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make it not so.
There are plenty of poor people who do not engage in graffiti. It is criminalizing behavior, nothing more and nothing less and pretending otherwise does not make it so.
What point are you trying to make? Not all poor people tag, thus this is not aimed at poor people? Try again. I know you must have a better argument (or at least one that supports your assertion) rattling around in that head somewhere.
Not all poor people commit vandalism via graffiti, and not all people who commit vandalism with graffiti are poor. Thus this is not a law aimed a poor people. It is a law aimed at a specific behavior.
Is making graffiti vandalism a felony the right way to go? Maybe not, but the kid glove treatment this vandalism has been getting has NOT been working.
Here’s a novel idea — if one is poor or one is a trustifarian hipster don’t take a can of spray paint and cover a building that is not yours and voila! No jail time for you! Problem solved.
It’s not an unreasonable view to think that private property shouldn’t be defaced without permission of the owner, even if the defacement is truly artistic. That others may feel the freedom to express oneself artistically is of greater value than material objects is understandable and has merit as well, but most would probably have to come down on the side of prohibiting the practice. I do. However, the push to elevate it to a felony should not be supported. This country locks up far too many people as it is, and graffiti is not an offense that should be treated as a felony.
We lock up people at a rate five times greater than virtually all other industrialized countries except Russia (but we’re catching up). More than half of the prison population are people who committed non-violent crimes, a large percentage being teenagers. Many will not get out of prison as non-violent as when they entered.
NC House Bill 552 should not be approved.
Asheville has world class graffiti artists whose beautiful work greatly enhances our city. Unwanted graffiti painted on others’ property is not art but vandalism. Making excuses for it and calling vandals artists rather than criminals does nothing but allow them to remain stuck in early adolescence. They want to play artist without the hard work and responsibility it takes to really be one, and they apparently don’t care about anyone but their egocentric selves. If they need to have an outlet for their creativity, they can go to any recycling center and find plenty of cardboard and paper to paint on.
I really wish the media would stop calling them graffiti artists. That is an insult to those who truly are.
Exactly, people just don’t know mate…
Timothy Peck, get a life dude. Your hate is getting tiresome.
Ron Moore, then Buncombe County District Attorney, asked for changes in the graffiti law a few years ago to help efforts in Asheville to combat graffiti vandalism.
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/06/11/graffiti-felony-possum-drop-bills-become-law/71086164/
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