"Criminal" Chalking and free speech: Know your rights.

Last fall, as I was engaged in protracted debates with the Capitol Police and security crews about first amendment rights, chalking, and criminal damage, I found and posted some articles about this guy at UofA who was in an absurd amount of trouble for his own chalking activity in Tucson. I was looking into all that again (dusting off all my gear for an action), and I came across this great blog, Sally Gradstudent, that speaks more directly to the Arizona criminal codes in question in the case. Neat blog with good links - it takes on the UofA administration and rallies other students to do the same.

The chalking charges against Jacob Miller and his trusty comrade (someone who began chalking after his arrest in solidarity) were ultimately dropped by the university, by the way, but it doesn't sound like they would have stuck.

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SALLY GRADSTUDENT

Friday, September 25, 2009

Criminal?

Jacob Miller's arrest is all over the news, turning a peaceful protest into a vortex of media attention. Tucson Citizen's Renee Schafer Horton is trying to get an interview with the UAPD, KGUN9 and KVOA4 both reported on it last night (with interviews from Jacob Miller), the Daily Wildcat filled up most of the front page with a photo from the story. The Desert Lamp has done a great job listing several other chalking incidents on campus.

Not only is the arrest of a peaceful protester disgusting, it also does not seem to us to follow the letter of the law.

Consider the definitions:

"A. A person commits interference with or disruption of an educational institution by doing any of the following:

1. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly interfering with or disrupting the normal operations of an educational institution by either:

(a) Threatening to cause physical injury to any employee or student of an educational institution or any person on the property of an educational institution.

(b) Threatening to cause damage to any educational institution, the property of any educational institution or the property of any employee or student of an educational institution.

2. Intentionally or knowingly entering or remaining on the property of any educational institution for the purpose of interfering with the lawful use of the property or in any manner as to deny or interfere with the lawful use of the property by others.

3. Intentionally or knowingly refusing to obey a lawful order given pursuant to subsection C of this section.

A. A person commits criminal damage by recklessly:

1. Defacing or damaging property of another person; or

2. Tampering with property of another person so as substantially to impair its function or value; or

3. Tampering with the property of a utility.

4. Parking any vehicle in such a manner as to deprive livestock of access to the only reasonably available water (???what's this doing here??? -Peg)

5. Drawing or inscribing a message, slogan, sign or symbol that is made on any public or private building, structure or surface, except the ground, and that is made without permission of the owner."

Any short walk around campus will reveal numerous chalk drawings, usually made by the sororities. And yet, the police do not interfere with their right to free speech.

This is a serious matter. If Jacob Miller is convicted of these alledged "crimes", he stands to have a criminal record for the rest of his life, as well as fines and possible jail time. The university could then be in a position to suspend or expel him. His court date is October 14th, and if the charges haven't been dropped by then, we should take our peaceful protest to the courthouse.

Check out http://www.arizonaforeducation.com/ for more updates on the case.

Renee Schafer Horton of the TC online raises some important questions about the cost estimate for removing the chalk, and thanks to a quick-thinking graduate student with a camera, we have some answers for her. No power washing was done; the chalk was removed (as we watched) in less than 20 minutes by a group of 3 janitors.

According to UAPD, they may be looking for evidence of even more chalking so that they can hand out new citations. This is from Renee Schafer Horton's blog: Sgt. Juan Alvarez of UAPD said "There were other people that help Mr. Miller, but we couldn’t identify them. If we are able to identify them, we could pursue charges."

Is it just us, or does this come off as "Watch your backs, protesters"?

We will not be intimidated.

Posted by Sally Gradstudent at 9:23 AM

Abolish the Arizona Revised Statutes.

Just for the record, here are the shortcuts to the Arizona Revised Statutes - it's a pretty interesting read; troubling, though. I think I have a few years yet of research to catch up with some of the folks here who have been around awhile.

This is the architecture of crime and punishment, and thus, this is what needs to be taken apart. Can't do that until we've read it. Once we all know what we're dealing with (read the sentencing committee stuff, too), we can put our heads together and figure out how to dismantle the beast piece by bloody piece. The Privileged Few in this state are pretty brutal to The People, and have been maneuvering everything to their advantage since European settlers and their descendants first arrived and began raping the land and her daughters. In so many ways, the odds are overwhelmingly against the Resistance here - always have been.

And yet, despite centuries of enslavement, genocidal policies, and other mechanisms of mass oppression (such as incarceration), informed, articulate communities of resistance have continued to emerge, engage, and endure - always pressing on our collective conscience, our sense of duty to fulfill our promise to promote "liberty and justice for all". What would Arizona's rule-book look like if the indigenous (Indian and Latino alike) had written it? Or if more radical women of color were in the legislature, kicking Russ Pearce's a$* for all his racist BS? What kind of rules would we have if we didn't have a State at all - just communities and collectives?

Okay; just dreaming. That's necessary once in awhile - it does us all some good to reach for more than what usually we're willing to just settle for. Otherwise, nothing changes.

Read on:

--------------------------from Justia.com----------------------

Justia> Law> Arizona Law> Arizona Code

• Title 1 - General Provisions
• Title 2 - Aeronautics (THIS TITLE HAS BEEN REPEALED)
• Title 3 - Agriculture
• Title 4 - Alcoholic Beverages
• Title 5 - Amusements and Sports
• Title 6 - Banks and Financial Institutions
• Title 7 - Bonds
• Title 8 - Children
• Title 9 - Cities and Towns
• Title 10 - Corporations and Associations
• Title 11 - Counties
• Title 12 - Courts and Civil Proceedings
• Title 13 - Criminal Code
• Title 14 - Trusts, Estates and Protective Proceedings
• Title 15 - Education
• Title 16 - Elections and Electors
• Title 17 - Game and Fish
• Title 18 - Repealed (THIS TITLE HAS BEEN REPEALED)
• Title 19 - Initiative, Referendum and Recall
• Title 20 - Insurance
• Title 21 - Juries
• Title 22 - Justices of the Peace and Other Courts Not of Record
• Title 23 - Labor
• Title 24 - Repealed (THIS TITLE HAS BEEN REPEALED)
• Title 25 - Marital and Domestic Relations
• Title 26 - Military Affairs and Emergency Management
• Title 27 - Minerals, Oil and Gas
• Title 28 - Transportation
• Title 29 - Partnership
• Title 30 - Power
• Title 31 - Prisons and Prisoners
• Title 32 - Professions and Occupations
• Title 33 - Property
• Title 34 - Public Buildings and Improvements
• Title 35 - Public Finances
• Title 36 - Public Health and Safety
• Title 37 - Public Lands
• Title 38 - Public Officers and Employees
• Title 39 - Public Records, Printing and Notices
• Title 40 - Public Utilities and Carriers
• Title 41 - State Government
• Title 42 - Taxation
• Title 43 - Taxation of Income
• Title 44 - Trade and Commerce
• Title 45 - Waters
• Title 46 - Welfare
• Title 47 - Uniform Commercial Code
• Title 48 - Special Taxing Districts
• Title 49 - The Environment