Gang injunctions intended to curb crime by curtailing otherwise legal activities — such as socializing with supposed gang- linked family members, drinking in public and wearing certain types of clothing — violate due process rights under federal and state law and should be immediately suspended, according to a federal complaint filed Tuesday by civil rights groups.
According to the lawsuit, brought by the ACLU of Southern California and the Urban Peace Institute, the injunctions deprive minorities of their basic rights and place them under threat of arrest for any number of day-to-day actions.
Many have lost jobs, educational opportunities, and even their housing, plaintiffs contend.
The complaint against Los Angeles police and city officials was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of the Youth Justice Coalition, which has been advocating for residents they allege were unfairly accused of gang activity, and two local men who were placed on gang injunction orders without any prior hearing on whether they were actually gang members.
“The city’s use of gang injunctions criminalizes young people of color, as evidenced by the fact that all 46 injunctions target black or brown communities,” said Kim McGill, organizer for the Youth Justice Coalition.
“The police label people as gang members and strip them of their basic constitutional and human rights, severely limiting their access to employment, education, housing and other essential services,” McGill said.
The proposed class-action lawsuit seeks to represent nearly 10,000 Los Angeles residents — mostly male minorities — who were also served with the injunctions without a prior hearing or other opportunity to challenge accusations that they were gang members.
Frank T. Mateljan, a spokesman for City Attorney Mike Feuer, said he could not comment because the office had yet been served with a copy of the lawsuit.
Gang injunctions are civil court orders obtained by the Los Angeles Police Department and the City Attorney’s Office that prohibit alleged “nuisance activities” of a gang in designated areas. The injunctions prohibit a wide range of conduct and violations can lead to arrest, fines and up to six months in jail.
The city has obtained 46 injunctions against more than 79 alleged gangs by suing the gang entity itself as an “unincorporated association,” according to the ACLU.
Once they are granted, LAPD officers and deputy city attorneys then make a determination behind closed doors and unilaterally to decide who should be subjected to the parole-like conditions of the injunctions, based on guidelines that supposedly indicate gang membership, such as whether a person wears certain brands of clothing, hangs out with other suspected gang members, or spends time in suspected gang areas, according to the lawsuit.
“The LAPD and City Attorney’s Office use gang injunctions to flaunt one of the most basic principles of fairness in American law,” said Carmen Iguina, staff attorney at the ACLU SoCal.
“Police and prosecutors shouldn’t be able to decide to arrest a person for ordinary activity like walking down the street with a friend or drinking a beer in a restaurant, just because they think someone is a gang member,” she said. “Due process means that the government can’t restrict a person’s freedom without a hearing or other opportunity to be heard.”
–City News Service