Al Capone was taken down for tax evasion. Loss of income is often used
as a deterrent to organized crime. It works.
To maintain order in a country controlled by the rule of law, criminals
are either sent to jail(loss of freedoms) or fined(loss of capital) or
both. To criminally prosecute graffiti taggers, the person doing the
marking must be caught in the act. There is a high burden of proof to
achieve success. To date, criminal prosecution has done little to deter
graffiti.
By approving the resolution and pursuing the vandals in civil court the
following scenario is possible.
1. Ask the City Council to approve the resolution
2. The resolution requests that private counsel is retained to recover
damage to City property.
3. Private counsel representing the city obtains access to police
records. Wins cases.
4. Same Private counsel may also represent private property owners.
5. The attorneys get paid their fees (as pointed out in Minn. Stat.
§617.90 "The court may award attorney fees and costs to a prevailing
plaintiff.") and the property owners are compensated for removal.
This proposal was crafted by homeowners in the inner city for homeowners
in the inner city. It is a no cost solution to the problem of graffiti.
The loss of income is used as a deterrent to illegal behavior.
Rick Mons wrote:
On Sep 6, 2005, at 1:23 PM, Scott Moore wrote:
There is already a law that protects victims of graffiti. (Minn.Stat.
§617.90)<http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/ 617/90.html>
The army of lawyers were sought to bring suit against those damaging
property with graffiti. Up to three times the cost of removal and an
amount not exceeding $1000 from the parent or guardian of the person
who placed the graffiti on another person's property.
By taking legal action and winning damages in court against the
individual placing graffiti or their parent/guardian, the illegal
behavior will be diminished. The person who's property had been
damaged will be compensated.
It is essential that the enforcement moves out of the criminal court
(high burden of proof) and into the civil courts (lower standard of
proof). A City attorney representing the City can not represent a
private citizen. BUT, a private counsel attorney who represents the
city CAN also represent a private citizen. This private counsel
attorney will have access to the police and police files.
An officer can give testimony in civil court. Something to the effect
of "This graffiti in the photo is the signature style of a
tagger/gang member/juvenile/whoever known as 'X'." The judge awards
damages. The juvenile's parents have to pay to get the markings
removed and have to pay damages.
That is different than having to catch the person red handed.
Did I answer your question Mr. Mons?
Yep. And I suspect I know why you've not been successful. First of
all, you're not asking attorneys to "defend the victims" but to civilly
prosecute the taggers. The property owners will be the plaintiffs and
the taggers will be the defendants. (It may seem like semantical
nonsense, but that's what it truly is ... and you're asking the private
bar to undertake a function which they normally associate with the
criminal side of the court system.
Second, I suspect that most attorneys will view this as trying to
obtain monetary judgments (which are relatively small when capped at
$1000) from civil defendants who likely have little means to pay any
judgments. So, an attorney who needs income isn't going to see this as
a revenue-producing field of litigation.
Maybe you've already tried this, but I'd suggest you talk to the
Hennepin County Bar Association and/or to some firms who would be
willing to undertake this as a pro bono project. Maybe you'll have
some success.
Rick Mons
Shoreview - Tanglewood Area
--
Scott Moore - 612.791.2333
Happy Accident Productions, LLC
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