Chicago Mayor Criticizes U.S. Court Gang Ruling
REUTERS - 5.51 p.m. ET (2152 GMT) June 10, 1999

CHICAGO chase 'em down the street. You'd be calling the police department. I want 'em outta here,'' Daley said.

Echoing Justice Clarence Thomas's dissenting opinion in the high court's 6-3 decision striking down Chicago's anti-gang ordinance, Daley said gang members do not live in the same neighborhoods that the justices live.

Opponents of Chicago's 1992 ordinance, which earlier was struck down by lower courts and has not been used during the past four years, claimed the law was selectively enforced by police.

"Police limited enforcement of this ordinance to specific areas of the city, which were poorer areas,'' said Chicago criminal defense attorney Steven Greenberg, who filed a friend-of-the court brief with the high court opposing it. "It was a police-created crime, and (the Supreme Court) recognized that.''

"You cannot have an 'ends justifies the means' mentality when it comes to civil rights,'' Greenberg said, adding that police now employ other laws, such as those barring "mob action,'' to roust alleged gang members.

Between 1992 and 1995 Chicago police made 45,000 arrests under its anti-gang ordinance where groups who refused an order to disperse could be arrested.

"The Chicago ordinance is, sadly, exemplary of what happens when politicians seek to appear tough on crime, ignoring the basic rights of individual citizens,'' American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois legal director Harvey Grossman said.

A few U.S. cities and towns have passed similar local ordinances seeking to give police weapons to battle street crime.

In the Chicago suburb of Cicero, the ruling may impact a legal effort to fight gangs, including an ordinance passed in April that called for known gang members who refuse to renounce their gang affiliation to be evicted from their homes.

Greenberg said the high court's ruling would likely undermine the constitutionality of Cicero's law.

Cicero spokesman David Donahue said the Chicago suburb planned to implement the law in the next month and expected to order its first eviction within the next 30 days. He also said he expected the town's ordinance to be challenged in court.