http://www.latnn.com/cgi-local/daily.pl?163-23
Saturday June 12, 1999
UNITED STATES
COURT'S VOIDING OF CHICAGO ORDINANCE FUELS ANTI-CRIME DEBATE
Chicago, Jun 11 (EFE).- Advocates of civil liberties in Chicago hailed on Friday the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that a city ordinance directed against gangs was unconstitutional.
The court ruled Thursday against a city law that allowed police to disperse young people gathered without obvious purpose on city sidewalks if any of the individuals was suspected of being a gang member.
"The Court accepted our position that the ordinance was unclear and could therefore lead to abuse," said Patricia Mendoza, regional advisor for the Mexican American Fund for Legal Defense and Education (MALDEF), which opposed the measure since its enactment.
Mendozr the Mexican American Fund for Legal Defense and Educatolice attitudes toward black and Hispanic young people in Chicago and other cities, but that it was a warning for them "to be more careful and know what is or isn't constitutional."
The city law, known as the Anti-gang and Loitering Ordinance, was passed in 1992.
After challenges backed by organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), MALDEF and the Cook County Public Defender's Office, an Illinois court ruled the ordinance unconstitutional in 1995.
The Illinois court noted that the law had led to 45,000 arrests between 1992 and 1995. That court's ruling was in turn appealed, until the matter reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mendoza predicted that City Hall would propose a similar law, but with some changes.
"We are going to wait and see their proposal. We don't oppose city efforts to combat crime, but we want a just law that will not abuse our community," she said.
The ACLU expressed satisfaction at the Supreme Court ruling.
"We are thankful that the Supreme Court understood what Chicago political leaders failed to understand, which is that it is not a criminal offense for a young person of color to meet his friends in the streets of Chicago," said ACLU legal advisor Harvey Groosman.
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