Hostages in the 'Hoods: A Civil Rights Balancing Act

Hostages in the 'Hoods: A Civil Rights Balancing Act

by Robert A. Destro

rmed hoodlums patrol the streets. Snipers fire at their victims from speeding cars. An infant is killed by a stray bullet that shatters the window of her home. Her family and neighbors live in a war zone where the fear is just as real as that experienced in Beirut, Sarajevo and Mogadishu. But these people live in Gangland, USA. They are "the hostages in the 'hood."

Gangland is expanding. Modern-day mobsters branch out from major urban centers to small communities and rural areas, bringing drugs, weapons and violence. Gangs are out of control, and innocents are routinely caught in the crossfire.

Witnesses are intimidated or gunned down. Even former gang members who have laid down their "colors" are subject to reprisals. The police are targets, yet officials often seem confused about how to deal with the problem.

In theory, the problem is not at all confusing: murder, mayhem and organized crime are illegal. In practice, however, the solution is not so simple. Highly publicized gang "summits," complete with news conferences featuring appearances and speeches by political figures, raise troubling concerns. In some cities, police have "negotiated" with gang "leaders." The city of Fort Worth, Texas, was so desperate to "stop the killing" that early last year the city council approved a controversial plan to hire known gang members as street "counselors."

The result is that entire neighborhoods are now claimed and ruled by "gangsters." Legitimate civilian authority has been supplanted by mobsters every bit as ruthless, and far less discriminating in their choice of targets, than the crime "families" associated with the Mafia.

Why? Because some misguided politicians have permitted themselves to be snookered by clever criminals playing the race card. To view gang activity as in any way related to the civil rights and social welfare struggles of law-abiding citizens is perverse. Gangs are organized criminal syndicates, not legitimate representatives of any political or social cause. When civic leaders condone or attend a "summit," they tacitly admit that they have lost or are willing to cede large portions of territory to hostile forces. Citizens become hostages.

It is time to take the right of innocents in our own country as seriously as we do the rights of civilians in Lebanon, Bosnia and Somalia. Though federal and state laws provide remedies for some crime victims, the imbalance in the system is obvious to anyone who takes the time to look. Governments have deep pockets, and convicted criminals file all manner of cases asserting their right to live in safe, uncrowded prisons. The citizens gang members have terrorized should be so lucky. These eighborhood residents are prisoners too, but have no one to sue. Convicted criminals are usually judgment proof.

We might, therefore, take a lesson in priorities from the Fourth Geneva Convention, a treaty specifically adressed to "the protection of civilian persons in time of war." Geneva IV requires that its signatories - and the United States is one of them - provide neutralized zones for the protection of medical services, children and expectant mothers. Geneva IV also requires imposition of penalties for terrorism, looting and reprisals against persons and property.

Since our state and federal laws already mandate such protection, the first step is for law enforcement and political leaders to show some backbone. They must refuse to concede that any gang member legitimately represents a cause. To make that concession - whether out of desperation or a misguided sense that belonging to a gang is necessarily related to racism or social deprivation - is to invite even more anarchy. It's not a coincidence that California describes gang activity as "street terrorism." That's what it is.

The second step is to demand - and enforce - fire-free zones where citizens can walk the streets without fear that they will be killed while seeking food, medical care and safe places for their children to play. We must set our hostages free.

The third step is for community leaders and law enforcement officials on the local, state and federal levels to make clear to gangs and their members that these terms are not negotiable. The message to the victimized communities must be clear as well. The Rev. Jesse Jackson recently said that "the premier civil rights issue of this day is youth violence." He is right. And gang violence is not confined to one ethnic or racial community. The problem is spreading. We are in this together.

The maintenance of a "civil" society is a balancing act. Constant adjustments must be made to assure the blessings of liberty for all. The "hostages in the 'hood" should be our first priority.

Robert Destro is an associate professor at The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law. He teaches courses in constitutional law, the First Amendment, civil rights, and legal ethics. He is a former member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. This essay is adapted from an article that appears in the Arizona Law Review.

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Revised: 27 October 1997