ABSTRACT
The use of gang injunctions is undoubtedly a very controversial policy and legal tool. Groups such as the ACLU have blasted the practice and aggressively fought against it in part because they feel it gives law enforcement officials too much authority, leaving many residents vulnerable to having their constitutional rights violated and being targeted based on impermissible factors such as ethnicity. Under the criminal system, a police officer must have probable cause to make an arrest. By using civil injunctions, some feel the lowered threshold and increase in police discretion takes away that layer of protection that suspected gang members have under a criminal system, and can lead to racially suspect decisions. The debates are evident in the daily media and in specific cases. In addition to legal arguments, there are many debate issues. For example, gang injunctions are not effective, they are racist and unfair, they are not cost-effective, they lack community support, they are unfairly attacked in the media, and when someone gets on an injunction, they can never get off. All of these issues will be discussed in this chapter.
