ACLU Raises Concerns over Sunnyside Gang Ordinance

The Sunnyside City Council on May 21 adopted an anti-gang ordinance. The law has many parts, all centered around very broad and vague definitions of “gang” and “gang activity.” The law creates several new municipal crimes, allows the city to revoke licenses of property owners whose land is used by gangs, and would allow the city to give tickets to parents whose children participate in gangs.

The ACLU recognizes the seriousness of gang-related crime and the importance of protecting public safety. However, the ACLU believes this law as written is unconstitutional and has serious concerns about how it will be enforced.

Problems with the Ordinance

It is so vague and broad that it makes innocent activity a crime. The definitions of “gang” and “gang activity” are so broad that they would cover a wide range of lawful activities. “Gang activity” is not limited to violent crimes or felonies, but includes any “violation of law” including civil infractions like jaywalking or littering. Being a “nuisance” is considered a type of “gang activity,” as is wearing “identifiable apparel” of a gang in the wrong setting. And any organization with members who at any time in the past engaged in gang activity is still considered a gang. Thus, a church-based support group for ex-gang members would be considered a gang under the Sunnyside ordinance.

It is susceptible to abuse and racial profiling. Laws that are this vague can be easily misused to harass or stigmatize people. Vague laws are often applied in a racially discriminatory manner. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1996 struck down Chicago’s gang loitering ordinance for its vagueness and susceptibility to abuse.

It targets speech and appearance. Part of the definition of “gang activity” is the display of clothing, signs, or symbols of a gang, even if no criminal activity is associated with it. This creates a risk that people could be arrested for wearing the wrong kind of clothing or the wrong kind of jewelry, and the law does not tell people in advance what clothing or jewelry is against the law.

It is not necessary. Real crime is already illegal. Sunnyside has the necessary powers to arrest and prosecute gang members who commit murders, assaults, robberies, drug dealing, vandalism, or other crimes. Gang members can also be charged under existing law with conspiracy to commit any of these crimes, with aiding and abetting, or with being an accomplice.

It punishes parents for the activities of their children. A portion of the ordinance would allow the city to ticket parents who have “insufficient control” over their children. The city should focus on people who break laws, not their family members who have broken no laws.

It distracts police from effective law enforcement. When police spend time enforcing what clothing or jewelry people are wearing, they are not spending time on detecting and preventing real crime. And effective crime prevention includes devoting efforts to job training, after-school youth programs, and other services.

It is very different from the California law. The Sunnyside ordinance is actually very different from the California law that was supposedly its model. The definition of “gang activity” in California is carefully limited to repeated patterns of particular felonies, and is not open-ended and vague like the Sunnyside ordinance.

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