EL PASO COUNTY ATTORNEY SAYS INJUNCTIONS BLOCK CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, NOT CIVIL
RIGHTS

EL PASO -- County Attorney Jose Rodriguez on Wednesday will ask a
judge to make permanent an injunction barring 27 alleged members of
the Bloods street gang from gathering anywhere in El Paso County.

County Court Judge Javier Alvarez signed a temporary order March 20
that prohibits the alleged gangsters from congregating, and forbids
them from having weapons, alcohol and paints, or using cell phones in
public. Alvarez will preside over the hearing to decide whether the
injunctions should remain in place.

The El Paso Times asked Rodriguez about the fairness of civil
injunctions in a country where suspects are presumed innocent until
convicted in criminal court.

Q: Are you satisfied that the gang injunction is a fair and proper
tool that does not violate anyone's civil rights?

A: Definitely. I am a civil rights lawyer by trade, and have a long
and expansive civil rights background. I have no interest in allowing
law enforcement to violate anyone's civil rights, even those of gang
members.

The 27 people that we named are people that we contend have been
engaging in criminal activity. They all have arrests or charges. They
are not just people who belong to an organization. There is no First
Amendment protection for engaging in criminal activity.

Q: If you obtain permanent injunctions against these people, what does
that mean for them?

A: This is a very serious matter. It limits what they can do, and
where they can go and who they can be seen with. To curtail someone's
day-to-day activities does affect them and their families, and we have
to be careful that we don't adversely affect them for no reason. We
wanted to make sure we had enough information on each of these
individuals before we named them.

Q: Why does the injunction seek to establish two "safety
neighborhoods" in Northeast El Paso, one around Andress High School
and the other in the Devil's Triangle?

A: Members of the community had been complaining for a while now that
there was too much gang violence in their area. I think the public is
aware, you guys have reported this, that the Devil's Triangle is
constantly affected by graffiti, assaults and gang fights. We also got
intelligence from law enforcement that backs that up. We met with
members of community and educators in the area who said this would be
a useful tool. We also learned that around Andress High School these
members are trying to entice the kids to take drugs and to deal drugs.
We have plenty of information that this activity is extensive, and we
will be able to prove that in court.

Q: Do you expect any of the 27 people to appear in court Wednesday and
defend themselves?

A: Yes. The last time we did this with the Barrio Aztecas there were
several members who had lawyers and tried to establish in court that
they were not gang members. I expect there will be some who will
contest this lawsuit at the hearing. We are confident that we have
information that will show that they are all engaged in a criminal
activity. But, if one of these gang members can show to us that the
evidence does not apply to him or her, I have no problem removing them
from the list. The last time we named 39 people and got injunctions
against 35 of them.

Q: You said that this injunction is not targeted at just one group and
that there are more to come. Is that true?

A: We actually have at least three other gangs that we had been
compiling information on, along with the Bloods. But right now we only
have enough information on the Bloods to proceed and not the others.
Under state law we need to meet certain elements of the statute before
we can get an injunction against anyone. We are not ready with the
other gangs, and I'm not going to go out and file injunctions against
five or six people. The last thing I want to say is that this
injunction has nothing to do with race. I didn't even consider that,
not this time and not when we filed against the Aztecas.