S.F. attorney wants to create gang-free zone

[madmusic]

First in city would put 4 blocks of Hunters Point off-limits

Demian Bulwa and Carrie Sturrock, Chronicle Staff Writers

Monday, October 23, 2006

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is seeking the city's first civil injunction against a street gang, asserting that a court order is needed to protect Bayview-Hunters Point residents from criminals who commute there to sell drugs and kill rivals and witnesses.

Herrera wants Oakdale Mob members, who allegedly terrorize the public housing development known as Oakdale, to face jail time if they're outside after 10 p.m. or hang out together in public in a four-block "safety zone."

The injunction also would bar them from committing a variety of crimes such as trespassing, intimidating witnesses, painting graffiti and stashing guns in bushes and crawl spaces.

Similar injunctions have been used for more than two decades in cities across the country, including Los Angeles, San Jose and West Sacramento, where they have fueled passionate debate between law enforcement officials and civil rights advocates.

Herrera, who in December announced his intention to seek gang injunctions, said Sunday that they are an extension of his duty to stamp out public nuisances. He said he was responding to a raft of complaints from residents affected by recent surges of violence. There were 96 homicides last year in San Francisco, a 10-year high.

edit: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/23/GANGS.TMP

Wait a minute, it was a little over 10 years ago that the 3-strikes law passed, and it was supposed to fix all this. Oh well, the constitution still hasn't struck out, yet. Picture Lady Justice up at the plate with her blindfold on, and we see the future.