- Gangbuster Bill
The Gangbuster Bill, formally known as the "Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005", was a proposed piece of
legislation in theU.S. Congress.Description
Principally sponsored by Representative
Randy Forbes , a Republican fromVirginia , with a number of co-sponsors, the Gangbuster Bill would have allowed teenagegang members to be tried as adults and have increased the mandatory minimum sentence to ten years for some violent gang-related crimes. The bill passed the House of Representatives 279-144 with mostly Republican support. The bill was widely supported by a number of nationallaw-enforcement organizations, such as theFraternal Order of Police , theNational Association of Police Organizations , and theNational Sheriffs' Association . The legislation failed to pass the Senate, in part due to opposition from someAfrican-American andHispanic-American organizations, such as theNational Council of La Raza .The proposed legislation pursued two principal goals:
*Designate "High Intensity Gang Areas" and authorize funds to combat gang activity in those areas.
*Define gang crime in the federal code and specify punishments for gang-related crimes and other violent crimes.In 2007 Rep. Forbes reintroduced the legislation, which has currently been referred to the
House Committee on the Judiciary .External links
*cite web|url=http://www.house.gov/forbes/gangbusters.htm|title=Gangbusters: It Stops Now|publisher=Office of Congressman Randy Forbes|accessdate=2007-06-05
*cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:hr880:|title=H.R. 880 (reintroduction of bill in 2007)|publisher=Library of Congress website|accessdate=2007-06-05
*cite web|url=http://www.bet.com/News/tlscott_gangbusters.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished&Referrer=%7B03CE5360-2620-42CB-AD7E-77E4249C5FB7%7D|title=Gangbuster Law Targets Juveniles|author=Tracy L. Scott|publisher=BET |date=2005-05-10|accessdate=2007-06-05
*cite web|url=http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/legislation/gangs_attachments/$FILE/ATTH5PTQ/Hispanic.pdf|title=National Hispanic Organizations Oppose "The Gangbuster Bill" H.R. 1279|publisher=National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers |date=2005-05-10|accessdate=2007-06-05
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