Federal judges have repeatedly concluded that chalk bans do not violate the protection of freedom of expression in the Constitution. That`s because “it leaves many alternative channels to express oneself,” Volokh says, while “protecting the government`s property rights and preventing visual rot.” There is a case from the DC Circuit (Mahoney v. Doe) that deals with abortion protesters who wanted to use chalk in the streets and sidewalks outside the White House. Police told them they would be arrested for violating the DC Degradation Act, so they challenged the First Amendment. The court upheld the law and said it met the three points of the public forum test: (Note that in the Las Vegas case, there is also a dispute over whether state law prohibits chalk at all; but for the purposes of this article, I assume there is indeed such a prohibition.) Moreover, Volokh says, the city may allow chalk at certain times and places — say, hypothetically, on the day of chalk on venice`s promenade — without this indulgence being an uneven application. The government, he says, has rights similar to those of private landowners, “and one of the rights is to take property that is otherwise jealously guarded for their own purposes and hand it over to others for any purpose. The fact that they open it from time to time, a limited stretch of sidewalk for schoolchildren to do something, and then wash everything a few days later, doesn`t require them to open all sidewalks indefinitely for everyone. Given that wording, I would say that the vandalism law involves the chalk of sidewalks. Do you remember drawing in chalk on the sidewalk in front of your house when you were a child? Maybe you`ve scribbled a hopscotch grid, or maybe you`ve found something more complicated. In the city of Anoka, drawing with chalk on the sidewalk is now illegal, thanks to a far-reaching ordinance passed by the Anoka City Council. The ordinance covers all types of displays on municipal property, including flags, murals, banners and, yes, even chalk drawings.
“I don`t want to make it illegal for a child to draw chalk on the sidewalk, which is what we say,” Skoquist told the Star Tribune. James Hill, who said his friend was arrested at ArtWalk, told the police commission that he had recently handed out Pepsi ads on the Venice promenade with chalk. “I don`t think anyone is arresting people from Pepsi Co.,” Hill said. “This is one of the most egregious abuses of police power, the selective application of a law. Especially when the obvious intention to selectively enforce this law is to remove the rights of individuals under the First Amendment. To this day, drawing on sidewalks with chalk was not legal in the city of Boise. The law regulates chalk drawing in streets, sidewalks, buildings, light poles and flagpoles, the newspaper reported. City officials passed the measure earlier this month by a margin of 4-1, according to KMSP. 1. The judgment of the Federal Supreme Court delivered two weeks ago in ballentine v. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department considers it unconstitutional to be selectively applied based on this view. The complainants were cited and arrested for broadcasting anti-police messages on various sidewalks, including in front of a police station.
But the plaintiffs said the police department does not name children who draw in chalk on public sidewalks, or adults who do the same “if the news does not criticize [the Metropolitan Police Department].” The court concluded that this was a valid right to selective enforcement (provided that the plaintiffs could prove that such selective enforcement took place). “It may seem unusual to walk something and put it back into a movement,” said Council Chair Elaine Clegg. “There are good reasons to do so. Our written regulations do not allow the drawing of chalk on sidewalks. There are people who do it, especially children. At a time when we are not able to hold our usual fireworks and other celebrations for the fourth of July, this seems like a real opportunity to encourage people to stay at home in their own neighborhood and celebrate the fourth of July. The city`s attorney, Scott Baumgartner, advised board members to take an all-or-nothing approach, noting that exceptions could become annoying for cities, the newspaper reported. Baumgartner cited a federal precedent that allows cities to regulate the use of chalk on sidewalks. So you need to ask yourself if your behavior is described by law.
In Mackinney v Nielsen, the Ninth Circle said sidewalk chalk was not against the law, but California has since amended the law to add the language “degradation with graffiti.” I haven`t seen a case of chalk since, but another case, In re Nicholas Y., from the Second District, involved someone using a marker on a window. He argued that it could be easily removed, but the court said it was still vandalism because: Prohibited: Chalk drawings on municipal properties are prohibited in Anoka, Minnesota. (Bob D`Angelo/Cox Media Group) On July 12, 17 people were arrested during a fight between protesters and police at the ArtWalk in Dowtown L.A. The protest was sparked by a recent chalk police crackdown by members of the Occupy L.A. movement. in front of the offices of the Central City Association in Hope St. and Wilshire Blvd. I`m trying to figure out if spitting a sidewalk or a street is illegal, because deep down I`m actually a six-year-old and I wouldn`t have a greater joie de vivre than if I were driving on concrete in a pile of chalk and terrible drawings. 2. What about selective application based on content, but not on the basis of point of view – for example, that chalk is allowed for hopscotch, but chalk is prohibited to convey a political or ideological message? 3.