Jolt
Afternoon Jolt: McKenna's Controversial Gang Bill Gets a Big (Financial) Boost
Today's Loser is the ACLU
Attorney General Rob McKenna's controversial gang bill (links to our previous coverage here ) got a big boost today.
The bill, which has raised concerns from civil rights groups because, to quote ACLU lobbyist Shankar Narayan—"it allows law enforcement to take out injunctions against people with no criminal records"—empowers local law enforcement to get court orders against people they suspect of being in gangs, thus allowing them to impose a curfew and bar suspects from associating with other suspected gang members, wearing gang clothing, or possessing graffiti tools (among other apparently criminal activities). If they're caught doing any of those things, they're on their way to having a criminal record, the ACLU complains.
The AG's office says they've addressed the civil liberties concerns about the broad rule by amending the bill to require law enforcement to "prove to a clear and convincing standard ... that the individuals named in the order must be proven associates or members of the ... gang."
The ACLU's Narayan calls that "a cosmetic change"—the tweak simply trots out the legal language for a standard that was already referenced in the bill. He says the basic problem still exists: Someone can be put under an injunction without committing any crime. (The ACLU is also nervous about the fact that the bill doesn't require that the individual has an attorney during the injunction process.)
However, whether the ACLU likes the change or not might not matter now: The bill got some cash today. The bill comes with a prevention and intervention component that costs $10 million per biennium—and McKenna announced this afternoon that he's backing that up with $1 million a year in dedicated dollars from a portion of lawsuit victory money that usually goes to the general fund.
That's not $10 million, but bringing some money to the table is sure to play well with legislators who want to crack down on crime in the context of the budget crisis. The bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Charles Ross (R-14, Naches) has bi-partisan support, including public safety committee chair Rep. Chris Hurst (D-31, Rural Pierce County).
Today's Winner: Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn
While a new Elway Poll found that 56 percent of those polls liked Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposal to consolidate education into one mega agency, they did not like the idea of eliminating the elected office of the Superintendent to do it. (Gregoire wants an education czar that's accountable to her.)
Elway reports: "Respondents balked, however, at eliminating the Superintendent of Public Instruction and creating a new Secretary of Education appointed by the governor: 57% were inclined to oppose that idea."
Attorney General Rob McKenna's controversial gang bill (links to our previous coverage here ) got a big boost today.
The bill, which has raised concerns from civil rights groups because, to quote ACLU lobbyist Shankar Narayan—"it allows law enforcement to take out injunctions against people with no criminal records"—empowers local law enforcement to get court orders against people they suspect of being in gangs, thus allowing them to impose a curfew and bar suspects from associating with other suspected gang members, wearing gang clothing, or possessing graffiti tools (among other apparently criminal activities). If they're caught doing any of those things, they're on their way to having a criminal record, the ACLU complains.
The AG's office says they've addressed the civil liberties concerns about the broad rule by amending the bill to require law enforcement to "prove to a clear and convincing standard ... that the individuals named in the order must be proven associates or members of the ... gang."
The ACLU's Narayan calls that "a cosmetic change"—the tweak simply trots out the legal language for a standard that was already referenced in the bill. He says the basic problem still exists: Someone can be put under an injunction without committing any crime. (The ACLU is also nervous about the fact that the bill doesn't require that the individual has an attorney during the injunction process.)
However, whether the ACLU likes the change or not might not matter now: The bill got some cash today. The bill comes with a prevention and intervention component that costs $10 million per biennium—and McKenna announced this afternoon that he's backing that up with $1 million a year in dedicated dollars from a portion of lawsuit victory money that usually goes to the general fund.
That's not $10 million, but bringing some money to the table is sure to play well with legislators who want to crack down on crime in the context of the budget crisis. The bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Charles Ross (R-14, Naches) has bi-partisan support, including public safety committee chair Rep. Chris Hurst (D-31, Rural Pierce County).
Today's Winner: Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn
While a new Elway Poll found that 56 percent of those polls liked Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposal to consolidate education into one mega agency, they did not like the idea of eliminating the elected office of the Superintendent to do it. (Gregoire wants an education czar that's accountable to her.)
Elway reports: "Respondents balked, however, at eliminating the Superintendent of Public Instruction and creating a new Secretary of Education appointed by the governor: 57% were inclined to oppose that idea."
