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Senate Bill 271 (Cedillo - 2007)

Chapter 34, Statutes of 2007

Some bill research does not include the Governor's file because at the time we researched the bill, the sitting Governor had not released his chaptered bill file. If the Governor's file is not included with this particular research, please contact our office (1-530-666-1917 or quote@legintent.com) and we will be happy to provide this file at no charge if it is available. Please Note: Governor files did not exist prior to 1943.

Allows any district attorney or city prosecuting attorney to maintain an action for damages against a criminal street gang or its members as part of an action enjoining a gang nuisance.

According to the author and the Office of the City Attorney, City of Los Angeles, "In order to eradicate criminal street gangs, we must cut off their access to proceeds from the drug trade and other illegal activities like identity theft and human trafficking. We must also eliminate both their tools of violence and bases of operations. As the California Supreme Court has noted, communities have become a 'staging area or gang related violence and a dumping ground for the weapons and instrumentalities of crime one the deed is done." [ People ex rel. Gallo (1997) 14 Cal.4th 1090.] The Court further noted that 'the people in these gangs-infested communities are prisoners in their own homes. Violence and the threat of violence are constant. Residents remain indoors, especially at night. They do not allow their children to play outdoors. Strangers wearing the wrong colors are at risk. Relatives refuse to visit.' To be successful in our fight against these criminal organizations, we must be willing to take extreme measures, including the pursuit and capture of illegally obtained assets.