LA to Sue criminals

[red-beard]

I guess they need the money...and it is easier to win...

From the WSJ today

DECEMBER 9, 2008 Los Angeles Sues Imprisoned Street-Gang Leaders

By JOHN R. EMSHWILLER

LOS ANGELES -- Attorneys for the city of Los Angeles filed a lawsuit Monday seeking monetary penalties against nine imprisoned gang leaders, alleging that at least some of them continue to oversee their criminal enterprises from inside prison.
The defendants in the Los Angeles state court suit are reputed members of the Los Angeles-based 18th Street gang, which the suit calls "one of the largest and most violent criminal street gangs in the world" with an estimated 30,000-plus members in 15 states and five foreign countries.
In the past, prosecutors have filed criminal cases against imprisoned gang members for continuing to direct criminal operations from their prison cells. The Los Angeles City Attorney's office says it believes this is the first suit that seeks civil monetary penalties for alleged damages to the public caused by such criminal activity.
The city attorney's lawsuit aims to take away any financial benefits the imprisoned gang members are enjoying from their alleged illegal activities, said City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. "We're going to hit them where it hurts, in their wallet."
City officials said they plan to seek damages of more than $1 million. If successful, authorities would then attempt to seize cash, homes, cars and other property connected to the defendants. It remains to be seen how much wealth authorities would be able to find and recover.
The suit is the latest acknowledgment of a long-known problem: Gang leaders' criminal activities don't necessarily stop after they are put behind bars. City attorney officials say they are looking at the behavior of these defendants while they were out of prison and after they were incarcerated.
All nine have been in federal custody since at least September 2006, and two have been in prison since the 1990s with both now serving life terms, says Bruce Riordan, director of the city attorney's anti-gang division. The two serving life terms, Ruben Castro and Frank Martinez, also are alleged members of the Mexican Mafia, a violent prison-based gang that law-enforcement officials say has long been involved in criminal activities inside and outside of jail.
The suit alleges that 18th Street gang members are "vertically integrated" with the Mexican Mafia and funnel criminal proceeds to jailed Mexican Mafia members through various means, including deposits into bank accounts that the men maintain at the prison. Prisoners can have individual bank accounts to buy sundries.
In November, Mr. Castro was sentenced to an additional 327 months in prison as the result of a 2006 federal indictment charging that while incarcerated in a Colorado federal prison, he continued to run some of the criminal activities of the 18th Street gang. Mr. Castro has filed a notice of appeal.
Neither Mr. Castro nor Mr. Martinez could be reached for comment.
Monday's lawsuit is part of a broader attack in recent years by federal and state authorities against violent street gangs in Los Angeles, considered to be one of the nation's spawning grounds for such organizations. Federal prosecutors here have filed criminal charges against more than 1,000 alleged gang members over the past year.
Mr. Delgadillo's office has obtained more than three dozen civil injunctions against more than 60 gangs. The injunctions restrict the ability of gang members to associate with each other or to go into certain neighborhoods. City attorneys have also moved to close houses allegedly used for gang operations and jail gang members for violating the injunctions.
Write to John R. Emshwiller at john.emshwiller@wsj.com

[Rick Lee]

Wouldn't it be a lot easier and cheaper to just keep them in prison, in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives? That way they'd not be able to run their businesses from behind bars. Let them have no contact with another human being other than their lawyer for the rest of their lives. If their lawyer is passing orders (ala Lynn Stewart), toss the lawyer into jail.

[T77911S]

this may stir the pot.
if they are in prison for life, why wait?

[Jeff Higgins]

Yup, if they are in prison for life, why not save everyone some time, effort, and money and make it a very short life. Pretty hard to run your gang from six feet under.

[Rick Lee]

There is no such thing as life in prison, as evidenced by sentences several times the length of even the oldest human's life expectancy. When you hear someone is sentenced to 300 yrs., don't you immediately think "Why is that necessary when he has no chance of living past age 85?" It just proves that the only way to prevent recidivism is to kill them. That has a 100% success rate. At least Virginia has no parole, so a life sentence there pretty much guarantees you leave in a box.

[Rick Lee]

And don't you really love the "life plus 35 years" sentences? It's so insulting.

[Gogar]

Sounds to me like a bunch of narcissist lawyers want to get on TV, that's about it.

If the city wins a judgement against an imprisoned gang member, what are they going to take away from him? How are they going to collect? OH yeah, they can garnish his $.20/hour wages, I suppose. It's ridiculous.

The end result will be the city spends millions of dollars and lots of hours on this big waste of time so some city lawyer can get on TV and feel better about himself for "fighting crime."

[Hugh R]

Delgadillo is a joke. He let his wife drive his city-owned SUV, she dented it and he turned it in as if he'd dented it. Didn't fess up till he got caught and paid the city back for the repairs. Anyone else doing the same thing would be fired, but he's elected. He's had his utilities shut off for non-payment of bills more than once. He and the wife live way beyond their means.

[Aurel]

Humm, let me get this straight...The city of LA would rather let the criminals operate from jail and take a cut on the money they make, rather than preventing them from conducting their criminal business. Yeah, I think I got it .

Aurel

[T77911S]

have you seen the tv program about prsion? they interviewed a guy that killed 1 outside of prison and has killed 30 in. he is doing us a favor but, if you are in prison and kill, what else can you do to them?
what is the purpose of death row? get rid of them and make room for the non lifers.

when i saw OJ's sentence, i was waiting to hear 15 years, eligable for parol in 9, out in 2.

[mikester]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Wouldn't it be a lot easier and cheaper to just keep them in prison, in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives? That way they'd not be able to run their businesses from behind bars. Let them have no contact with another human being other than their lawyer for the rest of their lives. If their lawyer is passing orders (ala Lynn Stewart), toss the lawyer into jail.

I believe there is something in the constitution regarding cruel and unusual punishment.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by mikester

I believe there is something in the constitution regarding cruel and unusual punishment.

What does that have to do with this? We have solitary confinement in every prison. It has passed Constitutional muster forever. How is it cruel or unusual to not let prisoners conduct criminal enterprises from behind bars? And when the 8th Amendment was written, cruel and unusual punishment didn't mean no a/c or cable tv or conjugal visits.

[mikester]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

What does that have to do with this? We have solitary confinement in every prison. It has passed Constitutional muster forever. How is it cruel or unusual to not let prisoners conduct criminal enterprises from behind bars? And when the 8th Amendment was written, cruel and unusual punishment didn't mean no a/c or cable tv or conjugal visits.

In my reading of recent articles in that rag the LA Times - it was my understanding that solitary confinement over long periods was considered cruel and unusual punishment and required significant justification to continue, justification equal to evidence.

Solitary is something that is used routinely to get gang members to inform on other gang members but even this has been found to be cruel and unsual because forcing an inmate to inform is basically giving him a death sentence. You force him to put himself in grave mortal danger (of course we have little sympathy for the scared little gang banger).

I'm just saying why I think it isn't done.

Personally, I question if it is the right course of action but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be willing to try it.

Of course I believe torture is wrong too so what do I know.

[onlycafe]

some people just need killing.