Friday, June 16, 2023

So it's now a First Amendment right to vandalize in Seattle

Federal judge blocks Seattle police from making arrests for property destruction: 'We are bound by the court order'

NEWS

https://www.theblaze.com/news/pechman-order-seattle-property-destruction

Seattle police will stop enforcing the city's ordinance against property destruction after a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the law.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman temporarily stopped enforcement of Seattle's property destruction ordinance because she believes it may violate the First Amendment and the 14th Amendment.

The decision stems from a case, Tucson v. City of Seattle, in which four people were arrested for using chalk to deface a concrete barrier outside a police precinct building in January 2021. The individuals were accused of writing messages critical of police, like "Fuck SPD" and "BLM."

Current Seattle law says that people are guilty of property destruction, a gross misdemeanor, if they "intentionally damage the property of another" or they write, paint, or draw "any inscription, figure, or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any real or personal property owned by any other person."

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