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WARNING SIGNS:
Students who agree to anti-gang contracts might be unfairly labeled as criminals

Part one in a two-part series
Read part two

Monterey County Herald | March 12, 2006
Copyright 2006 Monterey County Herald. All Rights Reserved. Posted with permission.

By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ
Herald Salinas Bureau

On the first day of school last year, a fight broke out at a Salinas high school. It started when a 13-year-old took another teenager by surprise from behind with a fist and a question -- "Remember me?"

When the fight broke up, school officials hauled the instigator into the principal's office. He admitted his role and explained that he punched his classmate because the other teenager was part of a group of Sureño gang members that jumped him on his last day of eighth grade months earlier.

Two days later, the 13-year-old was pulled aside again and asked to sign an anti-gang behavior contract. He said he didn't understand it but was threatened with suspension if he didn't sign, so he signed it.

He is not a gang member.

The teenager's father, who is not named so his son's identity is not revealed, remembers going to campus to sign the contract. His father, a Spanish-speaking field worker, said his son had to translate the conference for him.

"I don't know English. I just signed," the father said in Spanish. "I didn't get a copy. I was told if I didn't sign the contract, (my son) was going to get arrested."

The teen has had his share of trouble -- mostly drugs, according to his attorney. But the Monterey County Probation Department has linked him to gangs because of the anti-gang behavior contract.

"He's being associated with the very gang that beat him up" -- the Sureños -- said Deputy Public Defender Pamela Edwards.

Long-running practice|

For at least 25 years, Salinas schools have used "anti-gang behavior contracts" to combat gangs and gang recruiting on campus. Students thought to be gang members or leaning that way are asked to sign the contract and pledge to avoid certain behaviors, such as fighting and wearing baggy clothes.

School administrators and others say the contracts are a legal approach to keeping kids out of gangs and out of trouble, and are a way to warn them of the consequences of their actions.

But some teachers, students and others argue that the contract labels young people -- mostly Latinos -- as gang members. Students who signed the contract could potentially have serious legal repercussions because the contracts are used in juvenile court to determine terms of probation and lead to stiffer penalties as well as increased juvenile sentences.

"The contracts label kids who otherwise may not be gang members," says Salinas Union district board president Phil Tabera. "They may be signing the contracts merely because of association. A lot of these kids, gang members or not, grew up together in the same neighborhood.

Secondly, these contracts smell of profiling. Who are the kids ending up on the contracts? They're all brown kids."

Records obtained by The Herald show that 154 such contracts have been signed by students currently in the Salinas Union High School District. All but five are Latino. Latinos make up an overwhelming majority of students in the district -- 77 percent.

More than half of the contracts signed this year -- 90 -- are from students at Alisal High School, and 37 contracts have been signed at Washington Middle School. Salinas High follows with 16 contracts.

Controversy over court use|

The legal consequence of anti-gang behavior contracts, says one of the contract's creators, is an unforeseen consequence.

"Our intention was to inform parents and kids, change their behavior and make a positive difference," said Rudy Perez, a retired administrator with the Salinas Union High School District.

The contracts, he said, were not meant to be used as a tool for prosecutors.

An attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance in Salinas questions the contract and its list of 16 behaviors, saying it is a possible violation of a student's constitutional rights. Attorney Maria Mendoza said she has been approached by two families concerned about the contract their children signed without their knowledge, but she has not challenged the contracts in court.

Most alarming, Mendoza said, is the schools' willingness to identify students as gang members to authorities.

The contract carries this bold warning in large type: "If he/she continues to associate with two or more known gang members, engages in anti-social and/or criminal activity, he/she will be formally identified as a gang member with the police and probation departments."

School officials do not have the legal authority to classify students as gang members, Mendoza said, but the contracts give that appearance.

A talk with law enforcement|

Sharing student records with police and probation, Mendoza said, may be a breach of confidentiality.

Salinas Union High School District Superintendent Roger Anton said any exchange of information between the school and police is respectful of a student's privacy rights.

Anton insists school officials don't formally identify students as gang members, despite what the contract says.

"It's a contract between the school and the family. It has nothing to do with the police department," said North Salinas High School Resource

Officer David Yates. "... We don't identify them as gang members. We identify behavior."

But in the hands of police and probation, the behavior contract can brand a student as a gang member.

Anton said the contracts are meant to prevent gang involvement and improve campus safety.

When asked to explain the warning of formal identification to police and probation, Anton said, "... We have a conversation with law enforcement.

We don't go to court to formally identify a person as a gang member."
But school officials don't have to.

Chief Probation Officer Manny Real said a 1997 law requires schools to hand over student records, including anti-gang behavior contracts, at probation's request.

"We do not go over there, sit down and go through a kid's cumulative files, but the schools do provide us with information," Real said.
The probation department uses anti-gang behavior contracts to determine if a student should have gang terms as a part of his or her probation. A probation report takes into consideration a person's history, including school attendance, behavior and performance, as well as social background, Real said.

Salinas High School Principal John Macias said if administrators are subpoenaed by the Probation Department for attendance, behavior or performance records, his staff complies.

"(Probation) can request anything from the school," said Liz Sanchez, community liaison for El Sausal Middle School in Salinas.

Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Christina Johnson, who works for the juvenile division, said it is common for probation to use anti-gang behavior contracts in juvenile cases.

However, anti-gang behavior contracts are not used as primary evidence against a student, said Cate Brennan, who runs the Monterey County Public Defender's juvenile unit. But they are used in an attempt to prove gang membership or association. Gang association can lead to gang enhancements, which prompt stiffer sentences and penalties.

"A gang enhancement can be a real ugly ramification," Brennan said.

"For a kid, it takes the 'kid stuff' out of throwing a punch at somebody."

Questions about gang links|

With a gang enhancement, juveniles can get a three-year sentence in the California Youth Authority for fighting. That same charge, without a gang enhancement, amounts to a 90 day sentence.

"You can have a simple fight turned into a felony by virtue of this enhancement," Brennan said.

The California Youth Authority is the juvenile division of the state's prison system. If a youth is identified as a gang member and is taken to juvenile hall for any offense, she or he is housed with gang members.

Mendoza further contends the contract schools use is vague in connecting its list of behaviors to gang membership. For instance, cutting classes, wearing sagging pants and getting into fights do not necessarily mean a student is a gang member, she said.

Additionally, the language cited in the contract cites as gang-related -- words such as "loco," "homes" and "homey" -- are common among teenagers, specifically Latinos, Mendoza said.

Even with the more serious behavioral issues cited by the contract -- stalking, making threats, provoking confrontations -- the link to gang membership is not clear.

Restrictions on student clothing, Mendoza added, have been successfully challenged in court. Further, behavior contracts cannot legally prohibit with whom a student hangs out, she said.

Often the terms of gang probation include not associating with other known gang members. While the intention is to keep someone out of trouble, that could mean ordering a young person to stay away from lifelong friends or relatives.

And when the contract is turned over to law enforcement officials, they continue to remain accessible to police and prosecutors. The contract could show up even if someone is stopped for running a red light, whether that person is still a youth or has entered adulthood.

The aftermath|

The decision to put students on the contract is left to the discretion of school administrators. While there should be a discussion with other administrators and the school's resource officer before a student is asked to sign an anti-gang behavior contract, that's not always the case.

Oversight is up to school officials. And there is no appeals process after the contract is signed.

When administrators believe a contract is necessary, they are supposed to contact the student's parents and arrange a conference, including, if necessary, the school's resource officer.

At the meeting, the problem behavior is discussed and the contract is signed. Afterward, parents should be given a copy of the signed contract.

One father said he didn't understand what his son was signing. Some parents weren't present when their children signed the contract. Students who don't have gang affiliation say they have been asked to sign the contract without explanation. Many students have said they were "threatened" with three days' suspension if they didn't sign.

Superintendent Anton acknowledged the district has received complaints. He characterized them as "knee-jerk initial reaction" from parents who are in denial. Occasionally, he said, he gets a phone call from an attorney.

While school officials follow through with the contracts, that doesn't mean they don't have concerns about them.

Alisal High Principal John Ramirez is bothered by the contract's threat of formally identifying students as gang members.

"I don't want to see a kid labeled," Ramirez said.

But without intervention, there could be a far worse scenario, another principal said.

"If a 16-year-old gets shot in Salinas, it's one of our kids," said Salinas High's John Macias.

Salinas Union district board president Tabera said Anton has assured the board that the contracts are legal. But legal doesn't make it right, Tabera said.

"I think there are other ways of dealing with this."

Read part two

George B. Sanchez can be reached at 753-6771 or gesanchez@montereyherald.com .

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