Delay Urged in Ruling on Gang Injunction

Warning that it would amount to “martial law” for much of Oxnard, Ventura County’s public defender said Thursday that he was seeking to block a police-backed injunction that would impose sweeping restrictions on the Colonia Chiques gang.

Public Defender Kenneth Clayman said he filed a motion with the court Wednesday asking a judge to postpone a ruling on the injunction for at least 30 days so he could gather information on its constitutionality and advise the court. Superior Court Judge Fred H. Bysshe is scheduled to hear arguments in the case May 24.

Dist. Atty. Greg Totten and Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez announced in late March that they were seeking a permanent injunction that would severely limit the activity of hundreds of gang members within a designated “safety zone” covering about a quarter of the city. Violators would face misdemeanor charges for flashing gang signs, staying out past 10 p.m., wearing Dallas Cowboys attire and for socializing with each other within the restricted area.

“This preliminary injunction should not be issued,” Clayman said. “We want to bring to the court’s attention what we feel are infirmities in the injunction. We would like to be an intervener, so we can give some input.”

But prosecutor Karen Wold, who drafted the civil lawsuit that requests the injunction, said Clayman’s office is charged with representing individuals in criminal cases, not civil actions in which public defenders have no direct interest.

“All he’s doing is trying to delay the process unnecessarily, which will cause irreparable harm to the residents of the community,” Wold said.

She said the Colonia Chiques had retained a private attorney to represent them in court and, furthermore, that gang members had no legal right in this case to representation by a public defender at taxpayers’ expense.

Lopez declined to comment on Clayman’s motion. But he has repeatedly said publicly that the injunction, specifically the establishment of a safety zone, was the single best way to slow unprecedented gang activity in the seaside city.

According to Lopez, a comparison of crimes that occurred in the safety zone in February -- before the injunction lawsuit was announced -- with those reported in April showed a 32% reduction in homicides, robberies, carjackings, aggravated assaults, rapes and burglaries.

In February, 174 crimes were reported in the safety zone compared with 119 in April, Lopez said. “After the announcement that the injunction was being sought -- and it’s not even in place yet -- there was a reduction in crime,” Lopez said. “And we believe it was crime directly related to gang activity and the Colonia Chiques.”

In his motion, Clayman expressed concern that the injunction was overly broad and vague and would likely violate the constitutional rights of innocent Oxnard residents.

“The Plaintiff’s request here is unprecedented in the breadth of its terms and the intended scope of its application. For all intents and purposes, it seeks to establish ‘martial law’ for certain segments of the population,” according to his motion.

Clayman argues that the proposed injunction would give police officers broad powers to detain and question innocent residents in the company of gang members, particularly Latinos. The city’s 170,000 population is more than 60% Latino. “Because of the risk of racial profiling, any injunction should include a requirement that law enforcement track and report to the court ... attempts to enforce it,” according to Clayman’s motion.

The motion also notes that confusion between police officers and innocent residents could arise because the Cowboys football team has planned a training camp in Oxnard this summer.

In further defense of his request, Clayman accuses prosecutors of failing to name in court papers all of the gang members who would be affected by the injunction, which, in turn, denies those people an opportunity to respond.

The public defender states that the financial effect on his office could be “potentially disastrous” because of drastic budget cuts and the legal requirement of his office to represent defendants who could be charged with violating the injunction.