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Will the Proposed New State Anti-Gang Crime Law Make a
Difference?
Others are not so sure about a proposed law that would add up to 20
prison years for felony crimes if gang connections were proven in
court.
The full 20 years rarely would take effect. Those who commit homicides
already face maximum penalties. A more typical example is that a proven
gang member convicted of major felony assault or selling drugs could
receive a sentence of 10 years, perhaps, instead of 5 years.
Two veteran Saginaw County Judges air mixed feelings about the new
measure.
The measure unanimously has passed the Senate, including a vote in favor
from Jim Barcia. It now is under discussion in the House, where
Representative Ken Horn is a supporter.
An estimated 25,000 criminal gangs exist in the United States
with typical membership of about 30, according the U.S.
Department of Justice, which has an Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention.
Estimates of the number of Saginaw gangs have ranged from a handful to
upwards of a dozen. Local authorities publicly denied the existence of a
major problem until the middle and late 1980s.
Gary Loster,
Saginaw mayor at the time and former Buena Vista police chief, helped
organize the first countywide Gang Task Force. The team effort
now is known as the Saginaw County Safe Streets Task Force.
Saginaw Police Chief Gerald Cliff, an advocate of the new
provisions, says more than half of city homicides are gang-related. He
adds that a great deal of the local drug trade is through gangs, and
that street activities cause fears among neighbors.
Gang crimes "contribute to the destruction of the fabric of society,"
Kahn states. "This legislation will crack down on these outlaws and get
them off of the streets." The Rule of Five Among the first challenges of an anti-gang law, said Prosecutor Thomas, is that the U.S. Criminal Code defines a 'criminal organization' as a group with at least five members. This definition is incorporated into the proposed Senate Bills 291 and 292.
"The key is that when gang membership enables an individual in
committing a crime, this is where the added sentencing comes in," Kahn
says.
Saginaw's most notorious recent homicide was the death of 14-month-old
Stacy
Thomas notes that among those he prosecuted, three young men face
lifelong prison on convictions of first-degree murder. Two others
received second-degree convictions.
"That was a classic example of gang-type activity, but I do not see
where (a new gang law) would have made any difference in how we
proceeded," Thomas says.
Coulouris expressed similar sentiments to an audience of Saginaw's
Covenant Neighborhood Association.
"It would be incredibly difficult if not impossible, 99 out of 100
times, to try someone - much less convict someone - of being a member of
a gang," Coulouris told the audience.
"I'm not in here just to pass legislation that gets headlines, but that
accomplishes nothing."
Kahn answers that he acted not on his own, but in response to pleas from
police associations and judges.
"These laws will not just stand alone," he answers. "They will provide
an additional tool for prosecutors and judges. If we put up roadblocks
over the definition of a gang, then we will never get anything
done."
Representative Horn
says a key factor is that gangs "go beyond crimes of passion" and plan
their actions, all the way up to "cold-blooded homicides and other
violent acts."
"This sets a tone and makes a statement that we are going after these
gang members. We want to make the bad guys more afraid of us than they
are of each other."
"You don't get other members of a gang testifying against one of their
own, unless it's to save their own necks," Borchard says. "However, this
can be an effective tool in plea bargaining between the defense and
prosecution. The alternative of doing nothing is not acceptable. It does
provide for another possibility to what we already have."
Judge Boyd,
former county prosecutor, says that plea-bargaining would create an
added complication rather than a path toward stronger punishment.
"Similar get-tough state legislation during the 1980s withered away
because of the roadblocks in proving a definition of a gang crime," Boyd
says.
He notes additionally that Michigan's 1995 Continuing Criminal
Enterprise Law allows prosecutors to seek tougher sentences, similar
to the 1970 federal statute known as RICO, the Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
"I suggest that perhaps laws are already in place to punish gang
activity," Boyd said, "and the real problem is lack of funding to put
enough police officers on the streets to enforce existing laws."
Thomas has called not only for more officers, but also for more
prosecutors. He adds that witness protection funds are lacking, which is
a major barrier because gang members often fear their peers more than
they fear the cops and the courts.
For teenage and young adult gang members, a "chicken and egg" type of
debate exists. The National Juvenile Justice and Prevention Coalition
opposes stronger anti-gang laws, asserting that longer sentences simply
cause young prisoners to learn more about criminal behavior. On the
other hand, Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Pat Meter of Saginaw
Township asserts that these prisoners already are major criminals in the
first place.
"Gang members have a recidivism rate of over 80 percent," Meter
told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "These guidelines would allow the
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