ABSTRACT
Prosecutors obtain gang injunctions by applying the law of public nuisance to the particular harms criminal street gangs cause. We normally associate nuisance with trifling annoyances, and indeed nuisance law originally developed out of the need to address minor offenses. However, the nuisance doctrine applies equally to the activities of criminal street gangs, and is an effective tool for tackling serious gang violence. Since gang injunctions started to be used as a tool more than 25 years ago, several cases have shaped how they are drafted and implemented. These cases all stem from common law public nuisances that involve some interference with the interests of the community at large, interests that were recognized as rights of the general public entitled to protection.
