S.B. 16 is a crime bill that specifically allows officers of the peace to disperse gang members from any public area if the officer feels that the people involved are in fact gang members and are engaging in illegal or potentially illegal activity.

Now this bill is a tricky one, on the one hand we all want real solutions to reducing crime – certainly disbursing a group before they are allowed to commit a crime is a good way to do that. On the other hand however, we must recognize that there is a very real First Amendment problem here. It should be noted that the bill specifically points this out and states that “(the bill) does not affect or limit any individual’s constitutional right to engage in collective advocacy activities that are protected by the constitution or laws of the state or by the constitutional laws of the United States.”

In the same bill, however, it should be noted that officers can order disbursement if they “reasonably believe (the accused) to be a member of a criminal street gang engaging in gang loitering…” The bill does specify that those enforcing this code must have successfully completed a course or courses in identification of gang members.

But what if, what if, an officer gets it wrong, even once? If the police break up and arrest (which is possible according to the bill) someone who was NOT engaged in criminal activity, they have violated a persons First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. Lawsuits could ensue and this bill could prove quite costly to the city this took place in.

In the end I would not like to see this bill pass. I know that something must be done to help prevent crime in our streets, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of the rights grated to all of us in the Constitution.