"TwoGuns" wrote in message
...
On Dec 19, 12:37 pm, jps wrote:
This is what passes for sanity in Texas...

A Texas teenager who was sentenced to eight years in prison for
graffiti and marijuana possession has had his sentence reduced under
new state legal guidelines.

Corpus Christi Judge Marisela Saldana sentenced 18-year-old Sebastian
Perez to eight years in prison last week for three counts of graffiti
and one count of marijuana possession, giving Perez the maximum
two-year sentence for each charge. Both crimes are felonies under
Texas law.

But a new law that took effect in the state this fall means judges can
no longer "stack" consecutive sentences in cases like Perez's, and on
Friday Perez had his sentence reduced to two years, according to
KIII-TV in Corpus Christi.

Perez broke down in sobs last week when a visibly irate Judge Saldana
scolded him for his six-month graffiti spree and handed down the
eight-year sentence.

"My question to you, Sebastian Perez, [is] why do you pick on these
other fine citizens of Corpus Christi, why don't you knock yourself
out spraying, tagging, marking on your girlfriend's house, her
mother's house, your friend's house, your mother's house," Saldana
said at the original sentencing. "Knock yourself out."

Deanna McQueen, the Corpus Christi police force's graffiti enforcer,
said the eight-year sentence was an appropriate deterrent to other
taggers, and declared, "It was a good day ... for the citizens of
Corpus Christi."

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported that the damage to private
property from Perez's tagging amounted to $7,300. Blogger Will Sherman
at Animal New York calculates that the cost to taxpayers of
incarcerating Perez for eight years in Texas would have amounted to
$140,000.

This is not the first case of taggers receiving lengthy sentences in
Corpus Christi. Last summer, 19-year-old Ralph Mirabal was sentenced
to three concurrent sentences of eight years for graffiti damage to
some 30 properties. Mirabal had reneged on a plea deal to join the
Army, and was given a lengthy sentence as a result.

No what is insane is tolerating jerks like Perez that do thousands of
dollars of damage to the property of others. The State of Texas may
spend Over a hundred thousand dollars incarcerating this jerk but
MAYBE others will see that it MESSIN' WITH TEXAS ain't a good idea. It
probably saved million$ in future damage from taggers.

DL

Oscar Goodman got into a bunch of hot water when he suggested that they
should break the thumbs of taggers as punishment. An old mob lawyer is what
he is. He knows how to put an end to the problem, or at least instigate a
real deterrent.

I can't imagine having my thumbs broken. I mean both of them, and on
purpose by some big Bubba.

Steve

"Steve B" wrote

Oscar Goodman got into a bunch of hot water when he suggested that they
should break the thumbs of taggers as punishment. An old mob lawyer is
what he is. He knows how to put an end to the problem, or at least
instigate a real deterrent.


Forgot to say he's also the mayor of Las Vegas.

Steve

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:29:37 -0500, Gene
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:04:40 -0800, "Steve B"
wrote:


"TwoGuns" wrote in message
...
On Dec 19, 12:37 pm, jps wrote:
This is what passes for sanity in Texas...

A Texas teenager who was sentenced to eight years in prison for
graffiti and marijuana possession has had his sentence reduced under
new state legal guidelines.

Corpus Christi Judge Marisela Saldana sentenced 18-year-old Sebastian
Perez to eight years in prison last week for three counts of graffiti
and one count of marijuana possession, giving Perez the maximum
two-year sentence for each charge. Both crimes are felonies under
Texas law.

But a new law that took effect in the state this fall means judges can
no longer "stack" consecutive sentences in cases like Perez's, and on
Friday Perez had his sentence reduced to two years, according to
KIII-TV in Corpus Christi.

Perez broke down in sobs last week when a visibly irate Judge Saldana
scolded him for his six-month graffiti spree and handed down the
eight-year sentence.

"My question to you, Sebastian Perez, [is] why do you pick on these
other fine citizens of Corpus Christi, why don't you knock yourself
out spraying, tagging, marking on your girlfriend's house, her
mother's house, your friend's house, your mother's house," Saldana
said at the original sentencing. "Knock yourself out."

Deanna McQueen, the Corpus Christi police force's graffiti enforcer,
said the eight-year sentence was an appropriate deterrent to other
taggers, and declared, "It was a good day ... for the citizens of
Corpus Christi."

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported that the damage to private
property from Perez's tagging amounted to $7,300. Blogger Will Sherman
at Animal New York calculates that the cost to taxpayers of
incarcerating Perez for eight years in Texas would have amounted to
$140,000.

This is not the first case of taggers receiving lengthy sentences in
Corpus Christi. Last summer, 19-year-old Ralph Mirabal was sentenced
to three concurrent sentences of eight years for graffiti damage to
some 30 properties. Mirabal had reneged on a plea deal to join the
Army, and was given a lengthy sentence as a result.

No what is insane is tolerating jerks like Perez that do thousands of
dollars of damage to the property of others. The State of Texas may
spend Over a hundred thousand dollars incarcerating this jerk but
MAYBE others will see that it MESSIN' WITH TEXAS ain't a good idea. It
probably saved million$ in future damage from taggers.

DL

Oscar Goodman got into a bunch of hot water when he suggested that they
should break the thumbs of taggers as punishment. An old mob lawyer is what
he is. He knows how to put an end to the problem, or at least instigate a
real deterrent.

I can't imagine having my thumbs broken. I mean both of them, and on
purpose by some big Bubba.

Steve


And don't forget that these aren't innocent little kiddies with
artistic whims....
http://tinyurl.com/ycbsezu

Aren't you the guy who just got through arguing about us vs. them?

Are "they" all gang bangers now?

Pot, kettle, black.

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:20:22 -0500, Gene
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:24:22 -0800, jps wrote:

Aren't you the guy who just got through arguing about us vs. them?

Are "they" all gang bangers now?

Well, that's probably a good question!

So, tell me, what are they tagging? Still lifes? Landscapes? Studies
in the human form?

Or....... ? What......... exactly.....? Innocent scribbles?

Lots of it is just artwork or someone trying to make themselves famous
in the hood. Sometimes it's a gang member tagging territory.

But you group every graphitti artist as a gang member which is simply
not true. Many of them are simply artists who get off on doing public
art illegally. That's the sort of thing you get a pubilc service
sentence for, not prison.

Ever seen a spontaneous art installation? Don't suppose they have
those sorts of expressions in the south, unless it's the Klan burning
a cross. Spontaneous art installations pop up around here all the
time, including sculpture. Graphitti may be illegal but it doesn't
have to be related to criminals or crime.

On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:34:35 -0800, jps wrote:


Lots of it is just artwork or someone trying to make themselves famous
in the hood.

A lot of it is art, but the problem, besides the defacing of other
people's property, is a lot of it is just garbage. Some graffiti adds a
nice bit of color to a drab city, but ... Still, eight years in the can,
seems a little excessive.

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:14:40 -0500, Gene
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:20:22 -0500, Gene
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:24:22 -0800, jps wrote:

Aren't you the guy who just got through arguing about us vs. them?

Are "they" all gang bangers now?

Well, that's probably a good question!

So, tell me, what are they tagging? Still lifes? Landscapes? Studies
in the human form?

Or....... ? What......... exactly.....? Innocent scribbles?

Crickets.....

Oh golly, sorry I wasn't monitoring your every post. I was at a
friend's 50th birthday party. Sorry I took the time to celebrate with
them, I should have been at my post when you rang.

On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:35:44 -0800, jps wrote:

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:14:40 -0500, Gene
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:20:22 -0500, Gene
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:24:22 -0800, jps wrote:

Aren't you the guy who just got through arguing about us vs. them?

Are "they" all gang bangers now?

Well, that's probably a good question!

So, tell me, what are they tagging? Still lifes? Landscapes? Studies
in the human form?

Or....... ? What......... exactly.....? Innocent scribbles?

Crickets.....

Oh golly, sorry I wasn't monitoring your every post. I was at a
friend's 50th birthday party. Sorry I took the time to celebrate with
them, I should have been at my post when you rang.

Speaking of Crickets....