Assembly Bill Would Make Graffiti a Paddling Offense

A bill requiring juvenile graffiti vandals to be punished with up to 10 whacks of a wooden paddle by a parent was introduced Tuesday by an Orange County assemblyman, who declared that the public is “sick and tired” of the way such offenders are “coddled” by the criminal justice system.

“It is hard to take pride in your neighborhood when everything you see is covered with graffiti,” said Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Orange). “That is why paddling is so important.”

Conroy said public opinion polls show overwhelming support for his idea. Those polls were taken in connection with a highly publicized case in which an American teen-ager was caned in Singapore for spray-painting cars.

Conroy also said he has received about 200 letters and telephone calls from around the country supporting his proposal.

Graffiti abatement cost Orange County $1.2 million in Santa Ana last year and the Orange County Flood Control District spent $500,000, according to Conroy, who said the state spent more than $30 million on graffiti removal last year.

Conroy’s measure, AB 150X, ran into immediate opposition from Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

Asked at a Capitol news conference about the bill, Brown said he would not vote for the legislation. “A harsh penalty must be imposed,” Brown said, “but I don’t think it has to be a whipping.”

Brown said he does not believe that the Assembly Public Safety Committee, the first stop for Conroy’s bill, will agree with Conroy’s views on paddling.

As proposed by Conroy, any juvenile convicted of graffiti vandalism would be given four to 10 whacks with a wooden paddle in addition to any other sentence.

The paddle would be made of three-quarter-inch hardwood, 18 inches long and six inches wide. The whacks would be administered on the outside of clothes, not bare buttocks.

The paddling would be administered by the minor’s parent. If the parent declines or paddles too lightly, the judge can order a bailiff to do the job.

Conroy said paddling would survive a court test and not be declared cruel and unusual punishment.