New York Gang Member Faces Trial as Terrorist

[Rose Siding]

snip> New York's use of the statute to prosecute gang-related crime has sparked disagreement among lawmakers who voted for the legislation.

A spokeswoman for state Sen. Michael Balboni, who sponsored the bill, said he does not mind that prosecutors have decided gang violence is a form of domestic terrorism and are using the statute to prosecute Morales.
"Gangs are a forum to promote terrorism," said Balboni spokeswoman Lisa Angerame. "Therefore, the anti-terrorism statue would be applicable against them, even if the original intent for this law was not exactly to prosecute them."

Others say the law is not being used as intended.

"It is not that I want to defend gangs," said state Rep. Jeffrey Dinowitz. "But it should never be justifiable to use laws with purposes other than their original intent.
"We already have the appropriate laws to prosecute gang members for their crimes," he added.

The anti-terror law passed overwhelmingly in the New York Senate 53-1.

Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson, who brought the charges against Morales, said the terrorism stipulation was justified.

"The obvious need for this statue is to protect society against acts of political terror," Johnson said in a statement. "However, the terror perpetrated by gangs, which all too often occurs on the streets of New York, also fits squarely within the scope of this statute."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20041229/us_nm/security_terrorist_dc_4&printer=1

[ixion]

1. indeed... and you can count on further expansions of the definition of

terrorist.

This will include, but not be limited to, anyone who dissents against the current maladministration. :grr:

[olddad56]

2. now it is gang members, tomorrow it will be democrats

[Julius Civitatus]

3. Interesting: they don't try KKK members as "terrorists"

even though the KKK is the oldest domestic terrorist organization.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the skin color of the perpetrators.

[UncleSepp]

7. It probably has to do with the organization of the gang

The big thing with taking down white racialist groups has been RICO, which wasn't intended for that purpose either. After that, it's been tax law, and eventually falls through to mail and wire fraud. The bizarre collection of laws that have been used to take down various white groups shows some real creativity on the part of the state or the Federal government - they select the target, watch what they do, and wait for them to break the laws that pretty much everyone breaks at one time or another. Then, when they have enough, they move in and break the organization's back by way of its wallet.

When the next major incident occurs from a white group, expect to see anti-terror laws applied. It isn't going to happen because a bunch of Klansmen sit around in a park wearing KKK baseball hats, drinking beer and telling ugly jokes. It isn't going to happen because a bunch of skins go marching down the street. It will take actual repeated violent crime clearly connected to an organization, for example shootings, arson, bombings, that sort of thing, all of which was committed after the enactment of the statute to be applied, for the terror statutes to be workable. The various Klans aren't doing so much of that these days (which isn't to say that there are not idiots who are Klan members who are out hurting people and destroying property!).

Furthermore, even if the case were very good and if the case were won, the potential repercussions might make it a hollow victory. Federal prosecution of a racist group under anti-terror statutes would feed directly into widely held suspicion and resentment of the federal government, and would be very likely to spawn more acts of violence and insurrection than would have existed before such a case. With the gangs, a backlash which would make gang violence worse than it already is isn't a likely reaction.

Or maybe it's simpler than that, and it's just some racist cracker in mouthing off about brown terrorists while all those Klansmen there in the Bronx giggle and go free. ;-)

[genieroze]

4. .What * is doing to the country is terrorism, he's trying to scare us

into compliance.

[oneighty]

5. Oh no!

Political terror? Please define political terror.

"it is what we say it is."

And there you have it.

180

[Sentath]

6. typo or accurate quotation and subtle dig?

They intend to use a statue to prosecute him?

He'll win his case easy ( ;