One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Graffiti Artist 'Smear' Sentenced to Graffiti Removal
Photo by Lord Jim via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Graffiti artist Cristian Gheorghiu, a.k.a. Smear, has been sentenced to 13 days in jail and 45 days of graffiti removal for violating his probation, reports the LA Times. Gheorghiu was arrested in 2007 for tagging buses, and was recently charged with parole violation after he posted images of illegal graffiti on his website. Gheorghiu's lawyer, Blair Berk, told Judge Marcelita Haynes that Gheorghiu had since "created as an artist a life that is perfectly lawful," and that he "doesn't want to be the target of law enforcement," reports the Times.
Haynes claimed that she hoped his time as part of a graffiti removal team would help him become a role model to young taggers, letting them know that they could build a life for themselves as law-abiding artists. (Because that's so easy to do.)
At any rate, it seems like a poorly thought out sentence on a number of levels. A highly successful graffiti artist is more likely to encourage kids to keep up their tagging, rather than the other way around. And assigning someone to do graffiti removal who has built a career from street art seems particularly, and unnecessarily, harsh.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
