OK, I think it is unfortunate that people put graffiti on public buildings — defacing public space. What I’m curious about is how should this kind of crime be punished? In a number of states, there’s a fine of around $250 for first time offenders, which increases to actual jail time for repeat offenders or those found to have a history of criminal activity. I’ve been in some cities — Montreal, San Francisco, etc. — where there are places that are full of graffiti, and some of it is very, very artistic and takes on pertinent social issues.
Thoughts?
February 16, 2009 at 11:36 pm
In a lot of cases graffiti looks really cool (such as skate parks and the sides of old buildings). If that’s the case, I really don’t think it should be a crime, as long as it isn’t racist, sexist, hateful, or otherwise obscene. However, graffiti has no place on commercial buildings most of the time. If the offender is caught, perhaps they should be required to reimburse the company whose building they defaced.
This is a tricky subject. Good post.
February 17, 2009 at 12:14 am
Good points…one of the better ways to keep graffiti off of places where it does not belong is to have offenders clean up their mess…it’s been found that in schools were the students help with cleaning the schools are in much better shape…