Until now, local prosecutors have only been able to prosecute gang crimes as isolated acts, as previous state laws made it difficult to go after gang leaders for the actions of their members, effectively shielding gang leaders when they don’t get their own hands dirty.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who had lobbied for the “Street Gang RICO” law, said “this bill will allow us to attack gangs in a different way. Instead of just looking at the individual acts of one or two gang members, we’re going to be looking at the entire enterprise, and the entire organization.”
She said the goal is to attack the city’s gang problem by going after “the guys who are calling the shots.”
Alvarez noted that 31 other states in the U.S. have state RICO statutes, so it made sense that Illinois become the 32nd state with such a law.
“We were kind of in the Dark Ages, so I think it’s time for Illinois to get out of the Dark Ages, and do our part, because we’re dealing with the violent street gangs, and the violent cases,” she said.
She also noted that the U.S. Attorney’s office in recent years has been more focused on applying the federal RICO statute to corruption cases than to local gangs.
The new state law takes effect immediately.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/06/11/quinn-signs-new-state-law-to-target-street-gangs/