Which Way, L.A.?
Using RICO Laws to Control LA Gangs
In their effort to go after LA-s notorious 18th Street Gang, federal prosecutors have used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, better known as RICO.
By Warren Olney • • 30m ListenIn their effort to go after LA-s notorious 18th Street Gang, federal prosecutors have used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, better known as RICO. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton says LA gangs are worse than the Mafia, which RICO was designed to control. While Bratton and Mayor Jim Hahn have called for increased federal intervention and more use of RICO, critics counter that street gangs are disorganized crime and a far cry from the Mafia that Bratton encountered as New York police commissioner. We hear more about the worth and wisdom of using RICO against Southland gangs from Father Gregory Boyle, who runs an employment referral center for at-risk youth in Boyle Heights, and from George Cardona, chief assistant to the United States Attorney in its Los Angeles office.
Governor Davis Proposes New Death Row Facility
In Illinois this weekend, outgoing Governor George Ryan commuted the sentences of all 167 of his state-s death row inmates. In cash-strapped California, Governor Gray Davis- budget proposal includes a proposal for a new state-of-the-art death row facility. Russ Heimerich, Spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections, explains how the new facility will ease overcrowding and understaffing at San Quentin.
Rethinking California
State Librarian Kevin Starr is one of the state-s most eminent historians whose upcoming book,
Coast of Dreams, will bring his series on California into the 1990-s. In this weekend-s Los Angeles Times, Starr took a historical look at the deficit that Governor Davis pegs at $35 billion. His solution is a complete reorganization of the public sector of the world-s fifth largest economy.
