A federal court has ordered the city of Los Angeles to stop enforcing most of its remaining gang injunctions, marking the end of the controversial practice that critics long called unconstitutional.
The preliminary injunction will end restrictive sanctions for roughly 1,500 people put under gang injunctions without due process by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office, according to the ACLU of Southern California. Because the city did not allow accused individuals the opportunity to defend themselves, the court issued a preliminary holding that the city likely violated the Constitution, the statement said.
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The ACLU Foundation of Southern California, the Urban Peace Institute, and the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP filed a class action suit on be half of people unconstitutionally subjected to gang injunctions, along with the Youth Justice Coalition, an organization fighting against unjust accusations of gang affiliation.