Graffiti vandal gets eight year prison sentence in Texas

Personally, I do not care for the economics involved in punishing criminals. This boy is a punk of the first order and the idiots apologising for his behavior need a kick in the head, just to bring them back to reality. Give him 60 months of scrubbing graffitti, 365 days a year, and then discuss the lessons he may have learned. Let him beg for mercy from his victims and correct the damage to their property, then fine his parents for raising a juvenile delinquent. I really do not think that any of this will do any good. Life in prison, with his boyfriend is likely the only way to stop an anti-social prick like this.

oh YEAH, I'm sure he'd thank the guy with a bullet in the head.

having your personal property tagged is traumatic. Violence to someone's property may not seem violent to you but it is. One thing for sure is your liberalism. For that I do not know the cure. Try watchin Hannity or Rush for a few years it might help.

Right back at ya!

I stand corrected. FUCK THE TEXAS JUDICIAL SYSTEM. My sincere apologies to the fine people of Texas.

What is wrong with you? How can you say someone deserves eight years for graffiti? That is disgusting.

You don't know that he will get out in 18 months, either.

And there are graffiti removers you can buy - didn't you try that?

they said there is no chance for parole. full 8 years.

what in the hell is that supposed to mean? i guess you are not one either?

The judge says he will serve the entire 8 years. One term after another!

AMEN to that. You want to see what uncontrolled tagging looks like, go to any Latin American capital and the most beautiful architecture is ruined by the fricking punks.

They've spray painted national museums and federal buildings in Venezuela and Mexico.

all these jackasses crying about him losing 8 years have NEVER taken a moment to think about how damaging this can be to the local people trying to build their communities by creating businesses and jobs in the area, and few people will want to drive into that area if it looks like a ghetto.

well said.

and you wonder why I said LIBS don't get it. He got a good punishment. I bet he quits tagging. And I hope the other punks out there get the message. A slap ont he wrist won't do squat.

SO, what you are saying is that if he painted on your HOUSE, you'd be pissed.

But since he painted on someone's business, or on stopsigns, then THAT'S OK?! Who has to pay for that damage?

Do you thinking tagging is cool, "DRE"?

So, you want me to come over and paint some shit on your house?

i guess you haven't learned how to use the reply button.

and btw, I'm proud to be conservative. We don't run around apologizing for criminals who make our communities a hellish place to live.

I don't know why you're so intent on apologizing for every criminal ranging from taggers to terrorists, but someone failed to instill some values in you, obviously.

right so generalizing all muslims, almost 2 billion of them, as terrorists is a sign of good values
and supporting an 8 year jail sentence that is cutting the prime of a young mans life for $7,000 worth of property damage is another.

and the pride in it all is the icing on the cake.

What is a yahoo?

Ok...don't make this a political liberal conservative thing, its really annoying and its excessively arbitrary to divide the world up into two groups. I would probably be one of those liberals youre talking about and feel no damn sympathy for this kid. He was made an example of what happens when you get second chances and third chances and fuck up with glaring disrespect for the law, people's property, and society. Eight years? Yeah, it may be too much and I would almost always prefer people get community service, but I really don't give too much of a shit for this kid, fuck him, now he knows. He'll most likely get off early somehow even though they said there was no chance.

Personally, I'd like to see 2 years in prison with 5 years probation full restitution and 1000 hours community service

the point is the punishment doesn't fit the crime, is more about vengeance than justice, and misses opportunities to recoup on that 7000 dollars lost. Locking this kid up for 8 years will cost the state much more than $7000, and may very well lead to him never becoming a productive member of society. it surely raises the probability of his failure later in life.

it shouldn't be a liberal/conservative issue, it should be a common sense issue.

if you're gonna put it in a political frame, shouldn't you as the conservative be outraged that even more tax money is going to be spent housing this kid in prison??

they are setting an example, letting the other taggers know this is going to be taken seriously.

back in the day they might have hanged him. I'd say 8 years in jail by comparison seems pretty reasonable.

@ randomly, you are right. I'd be happier if they just hung the bastard

Since he plead guilty, he probably won't be able to get a reversal in appeals court. His only chance is a violation of the eight amendment (cruel and unusual punishment) on excessive punishment grounds. Although I think the punishment is "excessive" in lay terms, it almost definitely isn't excessive in Constitutional terms.

you think it was the pot that really freaked her out?

maybe YOU should go clean up the all the places he tagged for him. put your time where your big mouth is

whine, cry, fall to the floor and throw a tantrum!!!

genius

Sorry, but you are wrong. Defacing some else's property is a crime and is morally rephrensible. Buy a canvas and paint all you want, if painting on someone else's property you are a punk and a future convict. Art gives you no liberty to step on the rights of others.

I'm not sorry at all.

Morality doesn't exist and neither does property ownership. How could anyone claim ownership of anything outside of oneself? Compassion exists, but it is often mistaken or corrupted by imposed moralities and self importance. The world is the canvas my friend and everything within it is paint.

As for me being a "punk" and a "convict", I'll let you be concerned with your ideas about me. I know who I am.

These are big ones to swallow and I realize the good intent behind what you're saying. Maybe consider embracing that which you don't understand because then you will. Adios.

Then one day you will get your 8 years. But for now, this poor boy is paying the price for your arrogance. Are you proud of yourself?

That retort had no substance to it, but say whatever you need to make yourself feel better.

That boy is carrying the burden of society's flaws. The real question is are we proud of society?

Maybe, I should have said "our arrogance".

I do not need to feel better. I feel fine! I am a child of the 60's, thus have little remorse for the foolish decisions of the children of the 09's.

hey ghost, please post the address of your home so I can come and decorate it with a little creative tagging.

I'm waiting...I bet $100 you'll NEVER let anyone tag your home. It's only OK when it's someone else's property.

does the word "hypocrite" mean anything to you?

I would absolutely let you graffiti my home. I would love to see it covered in art. Gang signs, mosaics, a huge cock and balls on the front door. Whatever.

There are plenty of reasons why i shouldn't post my address online, you know that. Mainly because I'm a private person, but despite that i would let you graffiti my home. The city would probably try and do something about it though and i don't really have the time or energy to get bogged down in that mess. I'd rather choose my battles wisely. That is another question you have to ask yourself though. If we truly live in the land of the free why can't I have a huge cock on my front door? What happened to freedom of speech and what right does the city have to tell me what i can or cannot do with my home? This isn't a society based on personal liberty at all, but if you wanna buy into the old bullshit story then by all means do so.

Ya know you can toss words around and call people names just so you can put them in a box that helps you define them, but nine times out of ten the issue is far more complex than that. I've done this before, but I'm getting past it.

Humans need to evolve past this idea of property ownership, it gives us too much self importance and too much strife. Nobody owns anything except the life they live. Ownership is just an idea that we made up and it holds us back as a species.

You'll probably just reply to this by calling me some name or making some inflammatory statement. And i don't expect you to agree with me. You probably have too much invested in this life to do so. Nevertheless i hope you got something out of this discussion. Hasta Luego.

p.s. you lost your bet. I would let you tag my home, but I'd never put my address online.

Ya'll seem to think this is the first go round for this guy it's not. He has been doing this his whole life. This is not his first chanceHe had to get his life together. They gave him every chance to do right he refused. It was not untill he was faced with hard time that he showed any remorse for his actions. What is the cort to do when he was given the chance to get it together but didn't? what Ya'll saw was but a piece of what happen. He went into court laughing. not untill he found out he was going to jail did he start crying and showing any remorse. He played with his freedom and lost.

what a goofy statement.

Because it's CLEAR that the punk who was a dope smoking vandal was REALLY trying to "make something of himself".

this is SUCH a perfect example of the Liberal mentality. you guys get stuck in this mentality of "who are we to judge", everyone's actions appear to be equally valid (except of course, for conservatives and Christians, who are attacked vilely and mercilessly).

but no, we're not to judge the destructive behaviors of delincuents because our Liberal friends have so totally lost touch with reality that they now think that vandalism is "art".

so 8 years is just fine n dandy??...also you say if we never got our shit tagged then we have no say..but in reality the only person who had any say was the bitch of a judge.the real menaces to society are the ones who dont quite understand the value of ones life and the short time one gets to experience it.Sure you do the crime you pay with time,but how much time?Surely not 8 years!.Murdering sobs get = or less time than that.So you see my friend it really doesnt matter if he "had chances".The punishment is too extreme and that to say the least.8 years to a young man is 4eva!...

how is giving an 18 year old 8 years for 7 grand worth of damage fair? sorry, but imo you're just as much of an idiot as that judge. i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you're a george bush fan as well.

Give me a break... you give him supervised community time for cleanup, schooling, whatever is involved... and for everytime he doesn't show he spends a day in jail (1st three offenses, then a week in jail fo each one after that... along those lines. Eventually he will either get straight or end up in front of the judge for more. To destroy a life over vandalism is sick, and this style for sentencing is not serving society, imnsho.

You're willing to put an 18 year old, non-violent vandal in jail with rapist, killers, and murderers, yet you see no problem with this?

This kid needs be paroled, or do community service. Putting this kid in the horrible justice system with violent criminals was a horrible mistake, and the judge on the stand has essentially ruined the rest of his life for the small sum of 7,000 dollars. I hope she can sleep at night knowing in 8 years this young man will be stripped of his innocence, dignity, and sense of humanity in the hellhole we call state prison.

well surely removing almost a decade from a young person's life isn't going to do anything but aggravate the issue. young people often learn better when you take away their "now". like giving them a monetary fine, or parole. affecting their "later" with a lengthy sentence is only going to make the individual more delinquent. what do judges think goes on in jail? i can only hope that texas' finest knows what the hell they're trying to do.
it's not fair to 'make an example' of one man for the good of thousands. that's just UNjust.

i think it's important that we remind ourselves, upon receiving information from the news channels, that the news is a business and there is almost always a "side" taken. the news never gives us 100% of both sides, so we are never secure in our judgements.
not that we should be judging anyone in the first place....

what a sick cycle.

Ya'll seem to think this is the first go round for this guy it's not. He has been doing this his whole life. This is not his first chanceHe had to get his life together. They gave him every chance to do right he refused. It was not untill he was faced with hard time that he showed any remorse for his actions. What is the cort to do when he was given the chance to get it together but didn't? what Ya'll saw was but a piece of what happen. He went into court laughing. not untill he found out he was going to jail did he start crying and showing any remorse. He played with his freedom and lost.

ah, for crying out loud!

poor little baby, 8 years is a lifetime for a young man...yeah, well when he gets out, maybe he'll have a new appreciation for how much life is worth. He seemed to have been wasting his already.

BAM! jail door slamming shut. I love that sound.

It's not so petty if it's your stuff they spray paint all over, what if it was your car or work truck, or your business that you've saved for years for and work 60+ hours a week to keep open?
And some bonehead with a can of spray paint who most likely doesn't even know what a job is writes crap all over your window or property?? Maybe 8 years is a little harsh, maybe 3 years of 60 hours a week wiping other "taggers art" off of buildings and bridges would teach him some respect.

Sorry, still petty. I am smart enough to use my words wisely. Murder you cannot erase, the emotional scars of being robbed or raped cannot be erased. Paint can be wiped down or painted over. And if you had actually read my response instead of finding the first thing you could disagree with, you'd actually see that I said there are means in which this could have been handled. Also, as someone who has lived in impoverished neighborhoods (ghettos), I have experienced it firsthand. I have seen ugly tagging but I've mostly seen beautiful works of art. That's more than what community leaders are doing for us. They are quick to beautify upper class communities but we cannot get parks, community gardens, & abandoned buildings torn down or turned into something useful like a rec center. Let's start with where the real problems are at instead of throwing them behind bars where we don't have to deal with it anymore.

@MornRail Thank you for saying what needed to be said.

I was in Paris last year, looking forward to the "beautiful city". I was stunned at the graffitti throughout the city. A sad commentary on this city and a sad commentary on the morons that think of themselves as "artists", when they are only scum defacing a beautiful city!

If you read back through all of my posts you will see that I did not agree with the sentence. Your photos prove my point. THese are vandals posing as artists.

I was never denying what you may have written which, no I didn't read. But if you read my last comment, you'd see it was not directed at you, but for those who failed to actually look up this woman's record.

Also, if you can't see the beauty in it, it's not something I will argue with you about because opinions are like rectums. We all have one. What I was trying to say about your Paris comment is that it's like any urban city. It has problems and a bunch of kids are running around with spray cans in hand because that's their passion, they don't have anything better to do and because city leaders can't open parks, rec centers, supply proper books and, hey here's an idea, canvasses and art supplies in schools so that they may have something better to do. Graffiti won't end with these things coming in but they most definitely won't diminish with harsh treatment. And, with less people being accepting of it, young people will do anything to rebel further. By saying it's trash, a smile will appear on their face and they'll keep doing what they do. That's the what young people (and older folks too) do. I'm sorry if you may not understand that.

Paris has a problem with a pack of ignorant immigrants, determined to destroy any vestige of the old Paris. Algerians with a limited mentality carrying paint cans and Muslims suffering from mental problems sucking on the socialist teat of France!

Wow, now you're just going off on a completely different tangent there...

I don't know why I bother...

I noticed that you did not deny my claims.

No need to reply to intolerance and bigotry. Especially when they have nothing to do with topic at hand. I don't know you personally so I can't comment on your character, but based on what you have to say, I find your opinions to be quite narrow-minded. Notice that. Have a good evening.

Well, MornRail while I didn't grow up in the inner city, I did grow up in a very poor rural community. We auctioned our labor, bake sales etc and raised our own money to buy things like art supplies for schools. We didn't wait for someone to give it to us, we also had set times where everyone got together and cleaned up our parks and we ASKED nicely people with the tools and skills to repair out broken park things, (swings etc.).

It helps build a since of pride and community. When community leaders and businesses see people take care of things and not make excuses for criminals who deface other people's property, they usually step up and make contributions for more nice things.

Why should private funds or tax money go to build rec centers, parks etc when people just tear it up and cry because they're in a dump. And don't confuse vandals with artists. there are many beautiful planned murals in blighted areas all over the country, but they're planned and done with the owners permission.

i think the whole discussion is a bunch of BULL SHIT. (ooh, is that an ugly word? I think it was used "artistically". Don't like it? kiss my ass. Another artistic expression)

Ask the people whose buildings were defaced if THEY thought it was artistic. If they didn't, thn all the rest of your "ghetto art" nonsense is moot.

You're welcome to tag any building that you have been WELCOMED to tag.
Otherwise, you're a vandal, a criminal, and you're damaing someone else's property.

BTW, the use of the "offensive" terms above was just a provocative example of what I'm talking about. I may not find it offensive, but maybe YOU don't like being spoken to like that. So,in the end, who's right? Do i have a right to use just any language I want to you to express some stupid sense of "artistry"?

what if I choose to use racial epithets? Ah, now we're talking "hate crime".

In short, just because some PERP doesn't see how it's offensive is irrelevant. The victim ha been just as victimized whether or not the criminal's intent was "art" or "attack".

(and just so you know...mornrail, you haven't done anything or said anything to deserve a real attack, I bear you no ill will, but I wanted to do something to try to illustrate my point.)

land of the free?! What does freedom have to do with vandalism?

I tell you what, tell me your address and I'll express my freedom by burning down your house. Surely you'll see that as a legitimate expression of my beliefs, right?

or does that only work when it's someone else's house?

They tried that he was still tagging. He was given a chance to correct his behavior he refused. He was given every chance to live right he refused. He knew what he was faceing. he got what he was told would happen. Who is to blame?

A harsher reaction than I stated above is warranted then. 8 years still seems a bit extensive.