New Law Allows City to Sue Taggers
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday made the cost of graffiti-tagging more expensive.
The lawmakers approved an ordinance that makes taggers potentially liable to pay up to $1,000 to clean up their scrawlings.
On a 13-0 vote, the council gave the city attorney authority to sue taggers to recover the cost of removing their graffiti and finance the city’s reward fund for catching taggers.
The new law was proposed by Councilman Hal Bernson.
Under the ordinance, taggers can be sued for up to $1,000 in civil damages in addition to any criminal penalties imposed.
The penalties sought through civil litigation would be determined by the cost of the cleanup, any special costs of prosecution, the offensiveness of the graffiti and the taggers’ history of graffiti convictions.
In proposing the measure, Bernson said the city spends $3.5 million a year cleaning up graffiti.
“It’s time we let the taggers and vandals know we mean business,” he said.
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