Dine" Pride - Is it gang related?

[tex]

Recently it came to the attention of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission "NNHRC" that the Arizona Department of Corrections has issued an internal administrative document purportedly linking tattoos of the Great Seal of the Navajo Nation, a Navajo Sun God and the term "Dine' Pride" as gang related and the Arizona judicial system also recognizes the link for purposes of sentence enhancement. In other words, if you are involved in the Arizona criminal justice system and you have one or more of these or similar tattoos you are likely to receive additional time for engaging in gang activity. The NNHRC is interested in receiving comments and recommendations about this issue. Thank you for your time and interest.

[nickyad]

Oh weird....

Are these tattoos related in any way to any of the reservation gangs, but perhaps it's a thing amongst the gang members that is unknown to the public (or law enforcement)? Or something new amongst the gangs??

However, what concerns me is the assumption of gang related activity and thus increased sentencing just for tattoos =(
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"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value." --Einstein

[TheMANwithNoName]

The concept of assuming guilt or assuming guilt because of gang membership or of assuming gang membership because of a tattoo has been thrown out of every court that I know of. I'm not sure if these questions have ever made it to the Supreme Court, because they are usually tossed out at the state appeals court level.

Of course this doesn't prevent a state or local jurisdiction from trying it on just to see what they can get away with and unfortunately some folks who can't afford a good lawyer to fight a conviction or an enhanced sentence based on this are probably going to get ground up in the wheels of justice before the law is finally thrown out.
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"To be ignorant of what happened before you were born... is to live the life of
a child for ever."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero

[MD]

History has a way of repeting itself... they just want a reason to try to take back more... especially their empty promisses!

[wr_angel24]

WTH?!

Get tossed or extend an existing sentence because of a tattoo of the Navajo Nation seal? First, I had no knowledge that supposed "gang" members had tats of the seal. Of course, I'm not a criminal, don't hang with these "gang" members & haven't been exposed to that lifestyle.

I would be curious to know, if a Mexican gang member brandishing his tats would also get the same treatment i.e. extended sentence, arrest???

Seriously, if this so-called "law" were to reach the courts, there would have to be sufficient evidence, trials/debates, and public votes. But just basic assumption shouldn't cut it (now assuming the justice sys is knowledgeable).

Now, with no criminal history in my past/background and I happened to get a seal tat (not that I would), would I get tossed and a extended sentence?
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Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. –Steve Jobs

[TheMANwithNoName]

Yep, that's exactly what they are trying to do with these 'guilt by association' laws.

Prosecutors and law enforcement have trouble proving a case for gang membership based on investigation and evidence, so the lawmakers (who never want to seem 'soft on crime') try to make their jobs easier by making these laws that codify an assumption (that anyone who has certain tattoos or wears certain colors is legally presumed to be a member of some gang or other), rather than making the prosecutors prove the criminal activity in court.

As I say, in almost every case where these laws have been tested they eventually are thrown out be the courts, but sometimes only after a lengthy and costly appeals process.

I'm no fan of gangs - who basically are doing the same thing as these laws in many cases: cap somebody because they are walking down the wrong street wearing the wrong color, or because they have the wrong tats. Gangs frequently (but not always) do encourage or organize criminal behavior among their members, frequently teach the lesson to younger members to close ranks and use force in any conflict, and breed distrust of outsiders. On the other hand there are cases of gangs providing a beneficial force in the neighborhood where no other opportunities or social safety net exists. If cops and society want to do away with gangs they are not going to legislate them out of existance with stupid unconstitutional laws (another good one is the prohibition against more than a few people gathering on public property at certain times and places - clearly unconstitutional, but often enacted as a response to gang type activity). The only permanent solution is to replace gangs with more wholesome social institutions that provide the same things that gangs do for their members - some goals and prospect for the future, a feeling of acceptance and belonging to something bigger than the individual, and help for those who need it. Adolescents feel these needs more strongly than adults and so they are ripe for joining up if there are no other better institutions available to them. The best example of an institution that actually works is the Police Athletic League and similar institutions (not necessarily or even desirably associated with the police, but that is the first one that has come to mind). By all accounts PAL has for decades given kids goals and something to belong to, wholesome leadership, and something to do with their time. They seem to be a very positive force for keeping kids off the street and out of crime, and it works not by legislating what tats you can and can't have or what clothes you can and can't wear, but by providing goals and the means to reach them.
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"To be ignorant of what happened before you were born... is to live the life of
a child for ever."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero

[hellcat13]

excuse me while i get a tattoo.
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PSYCHO DOWN !!!

[mongoloid]