A group of Tufts students has formed a group called "Project REPEAL" in hopes of revoking the recently-enacted Somerville Anti-Gang Loitering Ordinance.
The City of Somerville adopted the bill at the start of this school year in an attempt to reduce gang activity and loitering, especially in the densely-populated East Somerville area.
The ordinance was enacted in direct response to the alleged rape two years ago of two girls, aged 14 and 17, one in a wheelchair, by three young Salvadoran men who have been linked to the MS-13 gang.
Many Tufts students, however, feel that this bill unfairly targets minorities and other social groups.
"This ordinance basically says that anyone who is undesirable-looking can be convicted without doing [sic] any offense," Project REPEAL organizer and sophomore Chris Hope said.
The ordinance allows Somerville police officers to force groups of people that appear suspicious to disperse. Refusal to disperse can result in arrest.
"This bill will affect everyone. It violates your constitutional rights and your right to move around in a free space," Hope said. In his opinion, it not only violates the rights of the greater Somerville community, but also of Tufts students.
Hope cited the downfall of a similar anti-gang bill that was enacted in Chicago in 1992 as an example. The bill was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1999 and repealed. "This bill is a carbon copy of what happened in Chicago, and it failed," he said.
Sophomore Nicolas Ojeda, another active member of Project REPEAL, said the "bill can get Tufts students expelled from school." The bill "is reactive, not proactive. We aren't saying that gang activity is good, we just think there is a better way to regulate it."
Ojeda said this bill profiles citizens based on social identity, an unfair and unconstitutional basis for arrest.
But the purpose of bill was to "send a message loud and clear that we won't tolerate the type of activity they've been doing here," William Roche, member of the Board of the Alderman for the Somerville City Council, said in Nov. 2002, just after the alleged rapes.
"If in the past, the gang has a history of creating public safety hazards such as beatings, rape, etc., that would give the police department a reason to move the gang," Roche said at the time.
Though there are 13 official qualifications that define a criminal street gang, many individuals, as well as groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), say it is unlikely that the ordinance will reduce gang activity.
"Pushing gang members off a particular street corner may give the appearance that something is being done, but [that is] not the reality," a statement from the Massachusetts ACLU and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights read.
"The Anti-Gang Loitering Ordinance is intentionally vague, which makes it even more likely that this law will be enforced incorrectly," Hope said.
The ambiguous terms of the law have already had an impact on Tufts students.
"My boyfriend was visiting me recently and he was stopped while at a payphone in Somerville because police thought that he was involved in a gang, just based on his appearance," sophomore Maria Lopes said.
Lopes' boyfriend does not speak English, and the language barrier has also raised questions about the ordinance's effectiveness, especially since the only active gang in Somerville is MS-13, an El Salvadoran gang, Hope said.
"There need to be more Spanish-speaking officers because it makes it very difficult to execute this law without them," Orejas said.
Hope said Project REPEAL can organize a better solution by gathering support and opening dialogue with officials in Somerville. He has already spoken with officials in Somerville regarding the issue, including Alderman-at-Large Denise Provost.
Hope also plans to gather support from faculty members and the University College.
"We need media advocacy, so we are going to have a debate forum to discuss important issues like this one on TUTV and we have a radio show on Tuesdays. Our goal is to get different organizations' support," Hope said.
Project REPEAL plans on having a forum at Tufts for Somerville residents as well as getting petitions signed and presented to the Board of Alderman for repeal of the law.
"We will bring in whoever we can in order to get this done. The police department needs to focus on criminal activity, not social identity," Hope said.
