Nashville Gang Members Banned

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Nashville police are trying to protect a
relatively new law that allows them to ban gang members from
certain areas.
      In response to growing concerns that gangs were disrupting the
safety and quality of life of Tennessee's citizens, the state
enacted a nuisance law in 2009 that would allow police to file
civil suits against gang members. Those suits would ban known gang
members from hanging out in certain areas, patronizing certain
businesses or associating with certain people.
      Violating those civil orders could then become a criminal
charge.
      But police told The Tennessean that recent flooding, a major
racketeering case and, in what has been the biggest factor,
concerns about legal challenges, have delayed efforts to file civil
injunctions against gang members.
      One local police unit has consulted with other police
departments so they can bulletproof cases from legal challenges.