SEATTLE — After a federal judge ruled that the city of Seattle needs to stop enforcing its property crime ordinance as it relates to graffiti, Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison is looking to appeal that ruling.
In mid-June, U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled that the city could not enforce property crimes related to graffiti, because, as it’s currently written, it “poses a real threat to censorship.”
That’s related to an ongoing case being appealed in district court, Tucson et al v. Seattle, where four people were arrested for writing “BLM,” and expletives against SPD in chalk on protective concrete walls outside the East Precinct.
Even though the messages contained expletives and “anti-police” rhetoric, according to some Seattle residents, the judge said it falls under free speech.
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Now, Davison is looking to overturn that ruling, arguing that the Seattle graffiti ordinance is in fact constitutional.
“The injunction restricts the City from appropriately addressing the growing problem of graffiti,” Davison said in a prepared statement. “The victims of graffiti – the public as a whole, business owners, property owners, and others – must have a voice. Graffiti is a crime that has an enormously negative and costly impact.”
Seattle’s ordinance said that graffiti is a gross misdemeanor, but the judge disagreed, saying the law is too vague, over-broad, and violates constitutional rights.
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Initially, there was some confusion around what laws were unenforceable under the order since the city ordinance covers multiple types of property crimes, including smashing windows or destroying personal property. SPD released a statement that the department “cannot take action on damage to property under this law.”
The judge later clarified that the injunction is only related to the city’s laws around graffiti and that police are able to make arrests for other types of property crimes; the city attorney’s office announced they would “immediately resume charging cases of property destruction.”
This story was originally published on MyNorthwest
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