Legislature passes sweeping gang bill

The N.C. House and Senate overwhelmingly approved a sweeping package of anti-gang measures today that include new penalties for gang-related activity.

The legislation is punitive part of a carrot and stick approach to help reduce gang activity across the state. A Governor's Crime Commission report that said there are more than 550 gangs in the state and nearly 15,000 gang members, Dan Kane reports.

There was no debate in the House, which passed it by a 110-1 vote. In the Senate, the vote was 45-0 after a short debate.

The legislation creates new felonies for those who commit drive-by shootings, take part in gang activities, or solicit others to join gangs. There are also new felonies for gang members who threaten others who try to leave, or threaten those who try to help members leave a gang.

Property acquired for or derived from gang activity could be subject to forfeiture.

More after the jump.

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The new felonies only apply to those 16 and older, though someone as young as 15 who was convicted of a gang-related misdemeanor could face an enhanced penalty.

The legislation also provides a conditional discharge for first time offenders under the age of 18 who committed a lesser felony or misdemeanor related to gang activity. It also gives those under age 18 the opportunity to have a gang-related conviction on a lesser felony or misdemeanor expunged if they stay out of trouble for the next two years.

Law enforcement have pushed for the penalties, which amount to the state's first legal designation of gang crime. But some community and youth advocates have been concerned that the legislation could entrap teenagers who may look like gang members but not participate in gang activity. They have also been concerned that there's too much focus on incarceration and not enough on prevention.

The legislation drew one complaint from a state lawmaker. Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger urged his colleagues to support the bill, but he said it should not allow those under age 16 to escape gang-related charges.

"It seems to me that those provisions ought to allow us to capture some of the younger individuals who, quite frankly, are at the root of these problems," said Berger, a Rockingham County Republican.

Earlier in the session, lawmakers passed legislation that Gov. Mike Easley has signed into law that sets up how communities can develop gang prevention and intervention programs. The state budget bill includes $10 million for local gang prevention programs, but Easley has not yet signed the legislation.

Lawmakers, particularly Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat, had been seeking to pass anti-gang measures since 2005, but could not get past concerns about the cost and the impact on state prisons, which are at capacity.

Estimates for an earlier version of the bill show the new gang-related penalties alone could cost the prison system more than $26 million for additional space and $5 million in operating costs in the first year. The penalties were expected to add nearly 180 inmates in the first year and then 370 or more in successive years.

Two high-profile killings in the Triangle helped create the urgency to move anti-gang legislation this session, even though police have yet to confirm whether the deaths were gang-related. Eve Carson, UNC-Chapel Hill's student body president, and Abhijit Mahato, a Duke University graduate student, were shot in separate incidents. Arrests have been made.

A majority of states have laws dealing specifically with gang activity.