MAR Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 read away: Judge Rules Against New York City Ban on 'Graffiti Instruments' By THOMAS J. LUECK Published: May 2, 2006 In a setback to the city's efforts to curtail graffiti, a federal judge ordered the city yesterday to stop enforcing its ban on the possession of spray paint and broad-tipped markers, saying the law unfairly singled out a narrow age group. Judge George B. Daniels of Federal District Court in Manhattan, who issued his ruling over the objections of a city attorney, issued a preliminary injunction, to take effect at 5 p.m. on Thursday, against a law banning the possession of what the city calls "graffiti instruments" by people 18, 19 and 20. The judge left in place a ban on possession of etching acid, a substance used to indelibly deface subway windows and other surfaces, by people under 21. Gabriel Taussig, the chief of the administrative law division of the city's Law Department, said the city would appeal the decision before the Thursday deadline imposed by Judge Daniels. The ban on tools used to create graffiti "imposes reasonable conditions on a limited class of individuals," Mr. Taussig said in an interview late yesterday. He said that 70 percent of the city's graffiti had been found to be the work of people under age 21. In finding that the city had improperly singled out a narrow age group in its ban, Judge Daniels ruled in favor of a group of seven high school and college students who sued the city last week with financial backing from Marc Ecko, a Manhattan fashion designer who has championed graffiti as an established art form. Mr. Ecko said yesterday that the group did not intend to defend anyone's right to vandalize property. But he said that many property owners in the city had allowed, and in some cases paid for, graffiti on their buildings. "It is a visual dialect practiced around the world," Mr. Ecko said. The plaintiffs had not asked Judge Daniels to lift the city's ban on etching acid, a particularly destructive material that in recent months has been used to mar thousands of subway car windows. The city ban, which was written by Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr. and took effect on Jan. 1, strengthened a prohibition that had already been in place on the sale of graffiti tools to those 18 and under. The new rules broaden the ban to include possession and sale of the tools, and extend it to people up to 21. Virginia Waters, a city attorney who appeared before Judge Daniels yesterday, said that the judge had not sufficiently weighed written arguments submitted by the city only hours before his ruling yesterday afternoon. The preliminary injunction prevents the city from enforcing its ban on spray paint and broad-tipped markers while Judge Daniels hears more arguments and issues a ruling on the broader lawsuit, which seeks to permanently strike down the ban. nytimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunm Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Good shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLIK$ Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 How many of you people who care live in NYC? It doesnt matter. How hard is it to understand graffiti will never stop, just like murder or any other crime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesseract Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Well, its a pollitical issue for the most part (atleast in my eyes) I live in Europe and still care. Putting murder and crime in general on the parallel with graff aint exactly helping you prove a point. Even in the rawest form of Vandalism there are very different reasons why one does graffiti. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesseract Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 btw, although i hate ecko too much. This is good news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
how how are are you you Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 here we go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some1 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 kill ecko for life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClueTwo Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Good job Ecko man...Standing up for what he believed in...MAKING MORE MONEY!@! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellshock Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 dude i wanna make money haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunm Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 who doesn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClueTwo Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Surely not me..I want to be broke, living with roommates, and driving the same car since high school for the rest of my life.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny ballbags Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 good shit.... ps... i wanna be a junkie when i grow up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Clothesoff Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 no one ever says they wanna be a junkie when they grow up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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