We Come Out Chased By Hounds

The more things change . . .

Back in the day when I was a kid during the Regan-Bush years, they passed anti-gang legislation and it became open season on any young Black or Hispanic male – police brutality that made Guantanamo look like a vacation. Now they have done it again, passing new “gang legislation” as if there were no laws to deal with murder, drug dealing and immigration. Where belonging to a gang can mean as little as having more than one friend or standing on the corner. So, once again, its open season on colored folk.

A bill approved 279-144 on Wednesday would expand the range of gang crimes punishable by death, establish minimum mandatory sentences, authorize the prosecution of 16- and 17-year-old gang members in federal court as adults, and extend the statute of limitations for all violent crimes from five to 15 years. Democrats who opposed the bill said it puts too much emphasis on punishment and neglects prevention. While the bill authorizes $387.5 million over the next five years to fight street crimes, opponents said the cost of accommodating new prison inmates alone would exceed $9 billion over the next decade. "Passing this bill will do nothing to stem the tide of gang violence throughout this country," said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y. "What this bill will do is worsen our youth violence behavior by enslaving our youngsters into prison." Under the bill, federal prosecutors would share about $50 million a year to designate areas of high-intensity interstate gang activity and create law enforcement teams to go after gangs. Forbes aides said the intent is to produce an estimated 200 new federal anti-gang prosecutions a year that would strike at gang networks much like the federal government has pursued organized crime syndicates. more

It seems the new legislation is designed to create more workers for the prison industrial complex, more bonuses for prosecutors, and more funds for the prison and police systems. Didn’t we just finish a decade of mandatory minimums that almost broke the prison system and destroyed a generation of young men and women?