If the NAZIS could march in Skokie (ACLU) then I have a feeling a bank can stand soluble chalk complaints

ADDITIONAL INFO AT BOTTOM

Huffington

Jeff Olson, a 40-year-old man from San Diego, Calif., will face jail time for charges stemming from anti-big bank messages he scrawled in water-soluble chalk outside Bank of America branches last year.

The San Diego Reader reported Tuesday that a judge had decided to prohibit Olson’s attorney from “mentioning the First Amendment, free speech, free expression, public forum, expressive conduct, or political speech during the trial."

With that ruling, Olson must now stand trial on 13 counts of vandalism, charges that together carry a potential 13-year jail sentence and fines of up to $13,000.

"Oh my gosh," he said. "I can’t believe this is happening."

Where is the ACLU?

Prosecution response:

This is a graffiti case where the defendant is alleged to have engaged in the conduct on 13 different occasions. The trial judge has already held that, under California law, it is still graffiti even if the material can be removed with water. Most graffiti can be removed. Also, the judge and a different pre-trial judge held that the First Amendment is not a defense to vandalism/graffiti. The defense is trying to make this case into a political statement, which it is not. 

Olson did not VANDALIZE with a Frank Frazetta/Tentacled Obscenity/Graphic Novel bizarro work of art.

He issued a POLITICAL STATEMENT.

Here’s another.

Bank of America essentially owns the prosecution.

From the San Diego Reader:

This week, North Park resident Jeff Olson will appear in court to fight a charge of 13 counts of misdemeanor vandalism charges for writing protest slogans in chalk from February to August 2012. The charges could send Olson to jail for 13 years and put him on the hook for $13,000 in restitution to the City and to Bank of America.

Olson, a former staffer for a U.S. Senator from Washington, began to get involved in political activism around the time that Occupy Wall Street was in full swing. But for him, sleeping in a tent downtown or singing along to protest songs was not the right strategy.

"I thought my time would be better spent at the banks, trying to convince people to ditch these banks for local credit unions. I believed that was the best way to hold the executives and the corporations accountable for bringing this country to the brink of collapse," says Olson while occupying a small table at Santos Coffee Shop in North Park during an interview late last month.

#Occupy is a bunch of idiots, but sorry this is a righteous cause.

The Bank should just send the janitors out to wash it away if they can’t take the heat.

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The bank did respond...

The altercation was reported by Reader contributor David Batterson who happened to be at the protest that day.

"The man identified himself as Darell Freeman, corporate security for the bank. He refused to give me his business card when I asked for it. He told [Olson] that he could, “with one phone call,” get [Olson's] credit union account canceled at California Coast. He threatened to make the call if [he] kept up the demonstration," wrote Batterson in his October 2011 article.

"It was just an empty threat," says Olson. "He was trying to scare me away. To be honest, it did at first. I even called my bank and they said he couldn't do anything like that."

Undeterred, Olson continued his protests outside of the Bank of America. In February 2012, he came across a box of "Creatology" chalk at the CVS Pharmacy in North Park.

"I thought it was a perfect way to get my message out there. Much better than handing out leaflets or holding a sign."