An Abridged View of the Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act (H.R. 1279)

RS22165 -- An Abridged View of the Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act (H.R. 1279)

June 13, 2005

Summary

The House passed H.R. 1279, the Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005, on May 11, 2005. S. 155, the Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act of 2005, addresses many of the same issues often to similar effect and occasionally in the same language found in H.R. 1279. H.R. 1279, among other things, would dramatically increase the criminal penalties that follow as a consequence of a conviction for violent crimes, including gang offenses. It would expand the instances where juveniles charged with federal crimes of violence could be tried as adults and would authorize the establishment of criminal street gang enforcement teams. This is an abridged version -- without footnotes, citations or quotation marks -- of CRS Report RL32946(pdf), Gang Deterrence: A Legal Analysis of H.R. 1279 With References to S. 155. Related reports include CRS Report RL32943, Gang Prevention and Suppression Legislation in the 109th Congress: Side-By-Side Comparison of S. 155, H.R. 970 and H.R. 1279.