The gang injunction proposed by the City of Santa Barbara got blistered by a panel of eight attorneys, all of whom represent some of the 30 individuals named in the injunction, as well as the activists with Mi Palabra and Movimiento Esperanza, the two organizations that hosted the forum on the proposed injunction last Thursday night at the downtown Moose Lodge. According to its critics, the proposed injunction will mostly ban behaviors that are already illegal — such as threatening, intimidating, or extorting others, possessing drugs, or acting as a crime lookout. But they expressed most concern about proposed prohibitions that would limit the rights of the people named to assemble with whom and where they pleased, and even how they dressed.
For example, the injunction would limit the rights of gang members named in the filing from engaging in what’s now legal behavior — like associating in public spaces throughout Santa Barbara’s Eastside, Westside, and downtown. Likewise, they would not be allowed to congregate near schools. And if known gang members named in the injunction dressed in sports gear representing any of the city’s gangs — like the Chicago White Sox for the Westside gangs — they could be charged with contempt of court.
Jacqueline Inda, a community activist with the organization Movimiento Esperanza, moderated the forum with help from J.P. Herrada, a former gang member with the organization Mi Palabra who works now at getting young men out of gangs. Although the attorneys on hand added to the discussion, Inda and Herrada did most of the talking. They complained that the injunction was never vetted in public by the Santa Barbara City Council before it was announced to the community about a year ago as a done deal, though the council had discussed the matter in closed session. No one was given an opportunity to object.