Attorney wants judge disqualified in Solano County gang injunction case
By Brian Hamlin
MediaNews
Posted: 07/06/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT
Action on a court injunction aimed at curtailing the activities of the Norteño street gang in Fairfield was postponed Thursday after an attorney asked that the Superior Court judge hearing the matter be disqualified.
An order to show cause why the temporary injunction should not be granted was scheduled for a hearing in the Vallejo courtroom of Solano County Superior Court Judge Harry S. Kinnicutt on Friday morning. But Point Richmond attorney Paul M. Feuerwerker — representing two men who claim to have been wrongfully identified as gang members — asked that Kinnicutt be disqualified from hearing the case.
The attorney's motion was granted, and the case for injunctive relief was transferred to the Fairfield courtroom of Superior Court Judge David Edwin Power. The hearing on the matter was rescheduled for 8:30 a.m. July 14.
The Solano County District Attorney's Office filed for the injunction against the Norteños on June 1, charging that the street gang was responsible for intimidating entire Fairfield neighborhoods and committing a broad range of crimes, including murder, vandalism and drug dealing.
The complaint for injunctive relief specifies a 4.2-square-mile area in central Fairfield as a "Safety Zone" in which Norteños would be prohibited from gathering or engaging in gang activities and in which a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew would be enforced for gang members. The Safety Zone would be roughly bounded by Interstate 80, Air Base Parkway, Sunset Avenue and Highway 12.
According to Fairfield police, Norteños represent one of the largest and most violent street gangs in Fairfield, with about 250 members. Although a rival gang, the Sureños, also operates in Fairfield, no request for injunctive relief has been sought against them.
Similar injunctions have met with success in controlling gang activity in Los Angeles, San Diego and West Sacramento in recent years, although they have frequently been met with legal opposition.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed for amicus curiae (friend of the court) status in the case. Kinnicutt allowed the amicus filing during Thursday's hearing.
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ridiculous...
By Brian Hamlin
MediaNews
Posted: 07/06/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT
Action on a court injunction aimed at curtailing the activities of the Norteño street gang in Fairfield was postponed Thursday after an attorney asked that the Superior Court judge hearing the matter be disqualified.
An order to show cause why the temporary injunction should not be granted was scheduled for a hearing in the Vallejo courtroom of Solano County Superior Court Judge Harry S. Kinnicutt on Friday morning. But Point Richmond attorney Paul M. Feuerwerker — representing two men who claim to have been wrongfully identified as gang members — asked that Kinnicutt be disqualified from hearing the case.
The attorney's motion was granted, and the case for injunctive relief was transferred to the Fairfield courtroom of Superior Court Judge David Edwin Power. The hearing on the matter was rescheduled for 8:30 a.m. July 14.
The Solano County District Attorney's Office filed for the injunction against the Norteños on June 1, charging that the street gang was responsible for intimidating entire Fairfield neighborhoods and committing a broad range of crimes, including murder, vandalism and drug dealing.
The complaint for injunctive relief specifies a 4.2-square-mile area in central Fairfield as a "Safety Zone" in which Norteños would be prohibited from gathering or engaging in gang activities and in which a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew would be enforced for gang members. The Safety Zone would be roughly bounded by Interstate 80, Air Base Parkway, Sunset Avenue and Highway 12.
According to Fairfield police, Norteños represent one of the largest and most violent street gangs in Fairfield, with about 250 members. Although a rival gang, the Sureños, also operates in Fairfield, no request for injunctive relief has been sought against them.
Similar injunctions have met with success in controlling gang activity in Los Angeles, San Diego and West Sacramento in recent years, although they have frequently been met with legal opposition.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed for amicus curiae (friend of the court) status in the case. Kinnicutt allowed the amicus filing during Thursday's hearing.
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ridiculous...