Miles Kristan Activist Steven Books: “I knew it was legal in the ordinances.”

The spirit of the Act 10 protests is still alive in Steven Books. Since the historic street demonstrations in 2011 over then-Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union legislation, Books has used colorful chalk to write political messages around the Capitol Square dozens of times — usually targeting Wisconsin Republicans, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Burlington).

Books was doing just that the evening of Dec. 4, 2019, at the intersection of North Hamilton and East Mifflin. He had just finished chalking “Fire Rep. Vos ASAP” in the middle of the street when three Madison police officers showed up.

According to a police report obtained by Isthmus, officer Devlin Hernke informed Books “that what he was doing was graffiti, which he denied.”

“Officer Costin commented that the street wasn’t his property, to which [Books] replied, ‘It’s public property!’” Hernke wrote in his report. “[Books] continued to argue that what he was doing wasn’t illegal and Officer Costin read the state statute for graffiti to him verbatim.”

Books was given a $691 ticket for “graffiti on public/private property” and his sidewalk chalk “was confiscated and destroyed” at the Central District police station.

Hernke said Books was initially hesitant to accept the ticket, telling police “what a crock of shit!”

“I knew it was legal in the ordinances. But the booklet the officer was looking at didn’t have all the subsections or whatever,” Books tells Isthmus. [The officer] just told me, that’s for the judge to decide.”

It didn’t even get that far. After an initial appearance in municipal court in January, followed by a review hearing in February, Assistant City Attorney Adriana Peguero found that the ticket was indeed a crock of shit.

“There is a specific exemption that says [the ordinance] doesn’t prohibit any person from using water-soluble chalk to mark words or figures otherwise lawful on city sidewalks,” says Peguero in an interview. “Ultimately, I did dismiss the ticket.”

Books’ political chalking had caught the attention of Madison police two weeks before.

On Nov. 21, 2019, officers investigated several messages Books had chalked downtown including “FIRE Piss Ant Rep. Vos (sad face)” on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, “Rep. Vos drains life out of Wisconsin” just down the block on King Street, and “No F-35s...Fiscal Boondoggle” on West Doty. Officer Costin used city surveillance cameras to gather information about Books, who works in special education at a Madison high school.

“In each circumstance, the graffiti appeared to be written in pink or green paint which was washable with water,” wrote Costin in his Nov. 21 report.

Books says he and a small band of other activists started using sidewalk chalk to chide politicians at the height of the Act 10 protests.

“There was a public school teacher that wanted to chalk the whole [Capitol] Square. I thought that’s a good idea, let’s do it,” says Books. “We really did chalk up the whole Square with political statements and artwork.”

Ald. Mike Verveer wrote the exemption to Madison’s graffiti ordinance legalizing the use of chalk on city property in 1995. It was one of the first ordinance changes he shepherded in his long career on the city council.

“I sponsored the ordinance change because of Shira Diner, who was active in student government [at UW-Madison] at the time. She was writing messages with sidewalk chalk outside of the University Bookstore on Library Mall,” says Verveer. “One of the arguments I used was kids playing hopscotch — not that that is probably popular these days.”

Verveer, who represents downtown, says he’s never heard a complaint about the political chalking done by Books or other activists.

The December incident isn’t the first time Books has run into trouble because of the political messages he scrawls.

In 2012, he was given a $205.50 fine by the state Capitol Police for chalking on the grounds of the Capitol — which isn’t governed by Madison’s ordinances. He didn’t fight that ticket, agreeing to stop chalking in exchange for the ticket being dropped.

However, Jason Huberty — another Capitol protester who used chalk to express his dissatisfaction with state politics in the Act 10 era — did contest his ticket for writing “OMG GOP WTF” in 2012. He was initially found guilty of violating a state administrative code by a Dane County jury. Eventually, a three-judge appeals panel upheld a lower court’s decision that the administrative code was unconstitutional. So it’s legal to write with water-soluble chalk on both state and city property.

The fervor of the Act 10 protests was nearly a decade ago. So why does Books continue to chalk?

“I’m anti-corruption. Whoever it is, Democrat or Republican, I don’t like that. Politics should be fair,” says Books. “Vos cheats. It’s in his nature. He’s a crook.”

Books, a member of Veterans for Peace, says he likes to chalk “Indict Vos” or “Fire Vos” on North Hamilton Street to make sure the high-ranking Republican sees the messages. Most days when the Assembly is in session, the speaker can be seen walking up Hamilton Street to his office at the Capitol. Vos did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

“I do it whenever the weather is nice or whenever Vos does something bad,” says Books. “I hope he sees it. I’m just trying to tell the truth.”