By Andrew Kreighbaum
El Paso Times
AUSTIN — State Rep. Joe Moody, a former assistant district attorney, is pushing a set of bills targeting gang-related crimes.
Moody, D-El Paso, carried two bills through the House that would reclassify certain prison-based crimes as gang activities and strengthen existing penalties on those who solicit gang members. The measures have moved to the Senate.
One bill, supported by several district attorneys from across the state, would consolidate two similar 1999 laws, both of which aim to punish people who recruit members for gangs.
The problem is that the two laws carry two different punishments. The charge for coercing a child to participate in a gang carries a lighter penalty than soliciting an adult’s participation.
“It seemed like a ridiculous position to be in,” Moody said.
Shannon Edmonds, legislative director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, said prosecutors have had to dismiss and refile cases because of confusion about which law was more relevant to their case. He said prosecutors have charged a case under one statute, unaware that the other law existed, even when it was more applicable to their case.
The second bill increases the penalty for certain crimes, including escapes, committed by three or more people in prisons. The charge for smuggling cell phones, drugs or other prohibited items into prisons would jump from a misdemeanor to a first-degree felony under this gang bill.
Correctional officers and people on the outside who assist gang members in prison would also be subject to the tougher laws.
At least one group disagrees with Moody’s approach.
Attempts to deter crimes within prisons by attaching harsher punishments are misguided, said Ana Yáñez-Correa, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.
“When you create a law and you have to enhance it, that tells you right away that it’s not working,” she said. “The idea is that enhancements deter crime from happening. We’re seeing that that’s not the case.”
Moody’s bills will go to the Senate, which has approved wide-ranging legislation that sets up gang-free zones around areas such as schools and increases penalties for crimes committed by confirmed gang members.
Copyright 2009 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper