Pubdate: Thu, 01 Sep 2005
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Section: Editorial, Pg A28
Copyright: 2005 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

MR. GONZALES'S GANG WARFARE

AS HE TRAVELS around the country meeting with prosecutors and police, 
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has been told repeatedly that street 
gangs constitute one of the two most vexing challenges facing law 
enforcement officials; the other is the rising use of the drug 
methamphetamine. It's good that the menace posed by violent gangs in 
American cities and suburbs has made an impression on Mr. Gonzales, 
although he appears utterly perplexed as to the genesis of the problem. 
Gangs have taken hold "not just in the Hispanic community but also in the 
African American community," he told a group of Post writers and editors on 
Monday. "I don't know why that's the case." He promised to think about it 
and get back to us.

Whatever his puzzlement over the attraction of gangs to some youths, the 
attorney general's instincts on how to address it seem basically sound -- 
sounder, perhaps, than those of the administration he serves.

While Mr. Gonzales's day job requires him to concentrate on clamping down 
on gangs through law enforcement, he acknowledges that investigations and 
prosecutions are only a partial answer.

A comprehensive strategy, he believes, must include education, prevention 
and rehabilitation. "I don't want Hispanic kids to not go to school and not 
get an education," he said. "Sure, we may be able to prosecute them and put 
them in jail, but that represents a lost future as employees, as future 
leaders in our community. We can't afford it."

Nonetheless, a bill backed by the Bush administration and already passed by 
the House would unwisely federalize many local street crimes, stripping 
them from state prosecution if they could be tied even tenuously to gang 
activity. The so-called gangbusters bill would also establish mandatory 
minimum sentencing requirements, which remove much flexibility from 
sentencing and make little allowance for the circumstances of individual 
defendants; similar federal and state schemes have proved unfair and harmful.

Gang violence is a serious threat to the communities where it has taken 
hold, and in some cases it merits tough treatment by the criminal justice 
system. But Mr. Gonzales is justified in his apparent unease about locking 
up gang members and throwing away the keys. President Bush has proposed 
spending $150 million over three years to prevent gang involvement, with 
the funds to be dispersed through grants to faith-based and community 
organizations that attempt to steer at-risk youths away from gangs and into 
supportive social programs.

The House and Senate have each cut that request but appear likely to 
appropriate some funds.

The success of that program, not just draconian sentencing or increased 
numbers of federal investigations and prosecutions, will be a critical test 
of whether the administration's commitment to combating gangs is real or 
just a rhetorical priority.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman