Barajas, Frankhttp://hdl.handle.net/10139/7912024-03-28T12:11:35Z2024-03-28T12:11:35ZAn Invading Army: A Civil Gang Injunction in a Southern California Chicana/o Communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/10139/7922013-08-13T22:22:37Z2007-01-01T00:00:00ZAn Invading Army: A Civil Gang Injunction in a Southern California Chicana/o Community; An Invading Army: A Civil Gang Injunction in a Southern California Chicana/o Community
Over the past two decades, civil gang injunctions have been increasingly instituted in
California, Texas, and other parts of the Southwest. Most of the existing research on
injunctions focuses on the efficacy and constitutionality of this novel law enforcement
tool and pay little attention to their contextual specifics. The following case study is
meant to expand the discussion by examining why and how a small but eclectic crosssection
of residents organized to oppose the institution of a gang injunction in Oxnard,
California. It also shows how this opposition gained momentum by focusing on this
gang injunction as a tool not for suppressing gang violence but for protecting the
economic interests of elites in the revitalization of the city’s downtown district. Finally,
this analysis shows how local law enforcement cracked down on Chicana/o protesters
of La Colonia barrio who exercised their constitutional rights of dissent, to peaceably
assemble, and petition the government for a redress of grievances. This crackdown
further marginalized this segment of the Oxnard community and ostensibly ended the
career of this community’s police chief.; Over the past two decades, civil gang injunctions have been increasingly instituted in
California, Texas, and other parts of the Southwest. Most of the existing research on
injunctions focuses on the efficacy and constitutionality of this novel law enforcement
tool and pay little attention to their contextual specifics. The following case study is
meant to expand the discussion by examining why and how a small but eclectic crosssection
of residents organized to oppose the institution of a gang injunction in Oxnard,
California. It also shows how this opposition gained momentum by focusing on this
gang injunction as a tool not for suppressing gang violence but for protecting the
economic interests of elites in the revitalization of the city’s downtown district. Finally,
this analysis shows how local law enforcement cracked down on Chicana/o protesters
of La Colonia barrio who exercised their constitutional rights of dissent, to peaceably
assemble, and petition the government for a redress of grievances. This crackdown
further marginalized this segment of the Oxnard community and ostensibly ended the
career of this community’s police chief.
2007-01-01T00:00:00Z