The North Carolina House of Representatives approved a sweeping anti-gang bill Wednesday — an effort, sponsors said, to give prosecutors and law enforcement stronger tools to investigate, prosecute and deter gang activity across the state. Opponents worry it can too easily implicate innocent people.
The state already enhances penalties for crimes committed by gang members. House Bill 1173, which passed the chamber with a 111-to-2 vote, increases penalties for certain crimes committed by people who are deemed to be gang members or gang leaders. It also lowers the threshold for who can be identified as a gang member or leader.
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The bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, seeks to make changes to the North Carolina Criminal Gang Suppression Act to more clearly define criminal gangs, members, leaders and what constitutes criminal gang activity. Bill sponsor John Bell, R-Wayne has said existing law makes prosecuting gang crimes difficult because it “requires near-impossible evidence to prove criminal gang activity, leadership, and membership.”
“This bill puts realistic definitions in place while still putting the world on notice of what gang activity and gang crime in North Carolina is,” Bell said last week during a House committee meeting.
Opponents say the bill focuses too much on what happens after a crime is committed and not enough on crime prevention. They also said it creates legal risks for innocent people who may associate with gangs but who aren’t gang members or involved in gang activity.
The law defines a criminal gang as an informal group of at least three people that share common traits. The bill would lower thresholds for identifying gang leaders and members, and it proposes that gang association can be proven by an expert witness.
State law currently defines a criminal gang leader who meets two of a list of five criteria, such as recruiting members and planning gang activity. The bill would lower the threshold to one. The proposal also adjusts definitions for which defines a gang member, which currently is someone who meets at least three of nine criteria — things such as wearing known gang colors, making hand signs associated with gangs or having gang tattoos, for instance. The bill would make being “linked to a criminal gang” one of the criteria.
Opponents pointed to Supreme Court precedent that says someone can’t be punished simply for who they associate with, versus actual criminal conduct proven in court.
“If you're wearing red, if you have a tattoo, if you have social media, or if you use certain language, you can be identified as a gang member,” said Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, who voted against the bill. “No criminal activity yet, but you can be identified, according to this bill. We're loosening those standards also at the peril of what our U.S. Supreme Court has said. Many of these things are First Amendment rights of expression, of speech, of dress.”
Bell and his bipartisan cosponsors call the bill “Jaleeyah’s Law,” named for 13-year-old Jaleeyah Tune of Goldsboro, who was fatally shot in December. Lawmakers say it was a gang-related killing. The seventh grader at Wayne Academy was struck in the head by a stray bullet intended for a different person, according to Bell.
“No family should ever endure what has happened in the pain of losing a child to gang violence,” Bell said Wednesday on the House floor.