Trump Street Art Mural By Cashy-D Censored By New Orleans Council

Cashy-D Mural New Orleans

The Louisiana branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the city of New Orleans after a mural by Street Artist Cashy-D was censored.

“why can the president say this un-ironically, and that’s OK, but to say it ironically with a cartoon image in New Orlean is offensive?”

Cashy-D, repeats a quote from the 2005 Access Hollywood Tape in which US President Donald Trump crudely explains how he endears himself to women, by grabbing them by their genitals and kissing their breasts. The expletives are replaced with pictograms with images of a Bitch, Breasts, a Star and a Pink “Pussy Hat” symbolising the Women’s March protests against the Trump administration.

The original words used by Trump were: ” I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phoney tits and everything. She’s changed her look. totally … You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Cashy-D
Mural by Street Artist Cashy-D censored

Neal Morris, the property owner who commissioned the mural, allowed street artist Cashy D to paint the mural on one of his properties on Nov. 4, according to the New Orleans Advocate.

The Big Easy as New Orleans is nicknamed, ordered a resident to take down a mural which is located on private property. “The City of New Orleans’ murals-permit scheme is a multipronged assault on the First and Fourteenth Amendments that requires Plaintiff, artists and their patrons to obtain government approval before engaging in their constitutionally protected freedom of expression,” says the court filing, dated 13 March.

Appearing on the City of New Orleans website: “A permit is required to paint, alter, maintain, or relocate a public mural in the City of New Orleans. The City’s regulations are designed to regulate the aesthetics of an area as to the size and design of murals in a given area. Depending on the details and location of your mural, you may need multiple permits.”

Court papers state that real estate developer, Mr Morris, visited City Hall in October to research the permit process, but that city officials were “unable to provide the requested information”. (In non-legal speak, Morris calls the process “whack”.) He did not file a permit for the mural before it was painted by Cashy-D on a fence next to a warehouse Morris owned on 4 November last year. Shortly after, on 14 November, the city sent Morris a notice of a zoning violation that also said his failure to comply would yield “a maximum fine or jail time for every day the violation continues plus court costs”. “I sent the City a letter asking them to clarify their violation notice because the code section that was reference does not exist,” he says. “I never received a reply to that letter, and I did not subsequently apply for a permit.”

The $500 application base fee, is “both unduly onerous and opaque, the ACLU argues in the court filings”. “Applicants for mural permits are forced to pay exorbitant fees, submit extensive documentation, and are forbidden from installing any mural without a ‘development plan and design review’ by multiple government officials and committees.” According to the papers, the standards for approval were “vague, overbroad, or nonexistent”.

“I wanted to spur that dialogue because I think it’s an interesting question: why can the president say this un-ironically, and that’s OK, but to say it ironically with a cartoon image in New Orlean is offensive?”

A Texed based mural by Yoko Ono reads ‘HAVE YOU SEEN THE HORIZON LATELY’ was painted on the Ogden Museum of Southern Art for the Prospect.4 biennial and didn’t have a permit, but this has not been challenged. “Under the aegis of aesthetic regulation, the City has unconstitutionally deemed itself an arbiter of permissible artistic expression,” the court documents read. “This is exactly the kind of heavy-handed government intrusion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent,” says an ACLU blog post about the lawsuit.

“This mural is a constitutionally-protected form of free expression ― a right guaranteed to every American by the First Amendment,” Jane Johnson, ACLU of Louisiana’s interim executive director, said in a statement. “Forcing artists and their patrons to get permission from the government, pay exorbitant fees, and navigate an obscure bureaucratic process before they can express themselves on their property is an unnecessary trampling of their First Amendment rights.”

Morris has left the mural painted on his property, though it is currently covered with a tarpaulin printed with the word “censored.” Neal Morris, the property owner who commissioned the mural, allowed street artist Cashy D to paint the mural on one of his properties on Nov. 4, according to the New Orleans Advocate. The city sent him a letter days later threatening him with a fine or jail time if he did not remove the mural, which they claimed violated city permit rules.

According to the New Orleans city website, property owners must obtain a permit to paint a “public mural” in the city. All mural requests must be sent to the City Council’s mural review board, along with a sketch of the mural and two separate application documents. There is also a $500 fee.

The ACLU of Louisiana filed a federal lawsuit against the city Tuesday, claiming its permit requirements violate residents’ constitutional right to freedom of speech. The ACLU also argues that the city requires murals to be “subject to advance review and approval,” yet the city does not provide any guidance or standards for the residents to follow.

“This mural is a constitutionally-protected form of free expression ― a right guaranteed to every American by the First Amendment,” Jane Johnson, ACLU of Louisiana’s interim executive director, said in a statement. “Forcing artists and their patrons to get permission from the government, pay exorbitant fees, and navigate an obscure bureaucratic process before they can express themselves on their property is an unnecessary trampling of their First Amendment rights.”

Mr Morris has left the mural painted on his property, though it is currently covered with a tarp printed with the word “censored.”

See more images from Cashy-D  here

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