Colorado woman receives violation for chalk messages on sidewalk at popular park
A Colorado woman and the ACLU are questioning whether chalk can be considered graffiti after she received a violation notice for writing a political message in chalk at a local park.
Marcy Park is a place where families, pets, and Highlands Ranch residents go to relax, and where Laura Nelson saw an opportunity to engage with her community.
"I think we should really go back to January, when this first started," said Nelson. "Renee Good had been killed, and I came to Marcy Park to chalk and write about that. I wrote, 'ICE Out,' 'Renee Good murdered by ICE, ICE out,' those kinds of things."
Good was shot at least three times by ICE officer Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. Her death sparked weeks of protests nationwide, calling for an end to an increase in immigration enforcement actions.
A park ranger visited Nelson after someone made a complaint about the chalk message. But Nelson says she was never told it was against the rules.
"As long as I wrote in chalk, that was perfectly fine. I was within my First Amendment rights," said Nelson.
But that changed in March, just before the national "No Kings" protests. Nelson says she wrote "No Kings 3/28" in chalk at the park, the date of the protests.
"I wrote that at the entrances of all the park and, within a short period of time of returning home, I got another visit [from the park ranger]," she said. "This time, he left a violation notice. I was shocked, like I'm being singled out, like my voice doesn't count, that I am being silenced, and it is specific to the messaging."
The notice accused Nelson of violating an ordinance from the Highland Ranch Metro District, which states all graffiti identified on metro district property shall be removed within one business day. Chalk writing is considered a form of graffiti, according to the ordinance.
However, the ACLU of Colorado calls this incident a violation of Nelson's First Amendment rights.
"What we know is that they let kids chalk the sidewalk. No one considers that graffiti. What the government can't do is target one kind of speech that they don't like and say, 'Kids, drawing smiley faces is okay, but people writing a political statement is graffiti," said ACLU of Colorado Legal Director Tim McDonald.
A community relations manager for the metro district told CBS Colorado that they recognize every individual's right to free speech, and their legal counsel is currently reviewing the matter.
McDonald said, "We hope it doesn't come to a legal fight. We hope the City of Highlands Ranch in Douglas County, where this took place, focuses on the First Amendment and lets people speak their minds and not target political statements like they've done."