Cities sue gangs in bid to stop violence

Yahoo! News:

“Fed up with deadly drive-by shootings, incessant drug dealing and graffiti, cities nationwide are trying a different tactic to combat gangs: They're suing them. Fort Worth and San Francisco are among the latest to file lawsuits against gang members, asking courts for injunctions barring them from hanging out together on street corners, in cars or anywhere else in certain areas.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Cities are on shaky Constitutional grounds trying to prevent crime by barring otherwise legal activities just because the perpetrator happens to belong to a gang. That probably won't pass muster with courts. But cities may be on to something anyway. If they can establish some kind of legal liability for gangs, they may be able to sue gangs for damages inflicted by gang members in committing crimes. Just as corporations are sometimes liable for the actions of officers of that corporation, perhaps cities can find some way to make gangs liable for the actions of gang members. Of course, gangs don't usually have bank accounts and real estate and databases of dues-paying gang rosters. Nevertheless, cities ought to review all the methods law enforcement has used against organized crime, seeing if any of those tactics might be of use against gang crimes, too.