A federal court awarded $200,000 in the case of an Orlando activist, Timothy Osamar, who was imprisoned for 18 days after scribbling with chalk “The revolution will not be televised” and “All I want for Christmas is a revolution” in front of city hall last December:
Via:
Osamar was arrested for violating a city ordinance prohibiting "writing or painting advertising matter on streets or sidewalks." He was the first person to be charged with the ordinance - and also the first person to challenge it. You see, Osamar was a member of Occupy Orlando and his 'advertising matter' was political in nature. Yes, there's an Amendment for that.
Osamar was paid $6,000 in damages while his three lawyers split $35,000. But the city's biggest payouts went to its own lawyers - two separate agencies charging $83,293 and $72,070 for a grand total of $155,363. A spokeswoman for Orlando told the Orlando Sentinel the city had no choice in the matter, "The city of Orlando was the defendant in the lawsuit and had no choice but to provide a defense."
Just last week, an art event in Los Angeles, the "Chalk Walk," was stormed by LAPD clad in riot gear with many arrests and rubber bullet injuries.
