New Graffiti Law Hits the Books

When a tagger gets sentenced, it's up to the judge whether or not being on a clean up crew is part of the punishment or not. Soon, it will be mandatory after Governor Schwarzenegger signed some new graffiti legislation sponsored by Los Angeles that forces part of their punishment to be cleaning graffiti. City officials say graffiti has increased significantly in the past few years, from "25 million square feet of graffiti-stained surfaces in 2005 to 31.7 million in the year that ended June 30," reports the LA Times. But could it also be that with the success of the 24-hour operator staffed 3-1-1 city hotline: more people can easily report graffiti than before. You can also report graffiti online.