Abbey Marie
12-11-2012, 03:43 PM
In light of our recent discussions on terrorism, perhaps we should see where this fits in.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Street gangsters who commit assaults and killings
are not terrorists under the statute enacted after hijackers crashed jets (http://features.rr.com/topic/jets) into the
World Trade Center on Sept. 11,
New York's highest court ruled unanimously Tuesday.
There's no indication New York lawmakers passed the law to elevate gang-on-gang
street violence to the status of terrorism, which carries tougher
penalties, the Court of Appeals said. The court ordered a new trial for
Edgar Morales, a member of the St. James Boys gang who was convicted of fatally shooting
a 10-year-old bystander and paralyzing a rival gang member at a
christening party.
Bronx prosecutors argued the gang sought to intimidate the entire Mexican-American
community in the neighborhood. The anti-terrorism law applies to crimes committed
with "intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population."
The six judges, agreeing with a midlevel court, concluded there was insufficient proof
of that. They also said that prosecutors' terrorism theory, which
allowed evidence of the gangs' alleged criminal acts over three years,
probably prejudiced the jury.
"If we were to apply a broad definition to 'intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population,'
the people could invoke the specter of 'terrorism' every time a Blood
assaults a Crip or an organized crime family orchestrates the murder of a
rival syndicate's soldier," Judge Victoria Graffeo wrote.
"But the concept of terrorism has a unique meaning and its implications risk
being trivialized if the terminology is applied loosely in situations
that do not match our collective understanding of what constitutes a
terrorist act," she wrote.
Graffeo noted that the legislative findings in support of the statute cited seven terrorist
acts, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in
Manhattan and the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal office building
in 1995.
...
Full story: http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/55254887/78798966/NYs_top_court_NYC_gang_member_not_a_terrorist
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Street gangsters who commit assaults and killings
are not terrorists under the statute enacted after hijackers crashed jets (http://features.rr.com/topic/jets) into the
World Trade Center on Sept. 11,
New York's highest court ruled unanimously Tuesday.
There's no indication New York lawmakers passed the law to elevate gang-on-gang
street violence to the status of terrorism, which carries tougher
penalties, the Court of Appeals said. The court ordered a new trial for
Edgar Morales, a member of the St. James Boys gang who was convicted of fatally shooting
a 10-year-old bystander and paralyzing a rival gang member at a
christening party.
Bronx prosecutors argued the gang sought to intimidate the entire Mexican-American
community in the neighborhood. The anti-terrorism law applies to crimes committed
with "intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population."
The six judges, agreeing with a midlevel court, concluded there was insufficient proof
of that. They also said that prosecutors' terrorism theory, which
allowed evidence of the gangs' alleged criminal acts over three years,
probably prejudiced the jury.
"If we were to apply a broad definition to 'intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population,'
the people could invoke the specter of 'terrorism' every time a Blood
assaults a Crip or an organized crime family orchestrates the murder of a
rival syndicate's soldier," Judge Victoria Graffeo wrote.
"But the concept of terrorism has a unique meaning and its implications risk
being trivialized if the terminology is applied loosely in situations
that do not match our collective understanding of what constitutes a
terrorist act," she wrote.
Graffeo noted that the legislative findings in support of the statute cited seven terrorist
acts, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in
Manhattan and the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal office building
in 1995.
...
Full story: http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/55254887/78798966/NYs_top_court_NYC_gang_member_not_a_terrorist