II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 208 

To provide Federal coordination and assistance in preventing gang violence. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 12, 2009 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide Federal coordination and assistance in preventing 

gang violence. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Mynisha’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds— 

7 (1) with an estimated 26,500 gangs operating 

8 within the United States, gang violence and drug 

9 trafficking remain serious problems throughout the 

10 country, causing injury and death to innocent vic11 tims, often children; 


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1 (2) on November 13, 2005, a gang-related dis2 pute broke out in San Bernardino, California, and 

3 gunfire sprayed an apartment building, killing 11- 

4 year-old Mynisha Crenshaw and seriously wounding 

5 her 14-year-old sister as they ate Sunday dinner 

6 with their family; 

7 (3) this tragic shooting symbolizes the struggle 

8 that so many communities across the United States, 

9 like San Bernardino, face in combating gang vio10 lence, and serves as a reminder of the nationwide 

11 problem of protecting children from senseless vio12 lence; 

13 (4) according to the National Drug Threat As14 sessment, criminal street gangs are responsible for 

15 the distribution of much of the cocaine, meth16 amphetamine, heroin, and other illegal drugs 

17 throughout the United States; 

18 (5) the Federal Government has made an in19 creased commitment to the suppression of gang vio20 lence through enhanced law enforcement and crimi21 nal penalties; and 

22 (6) more Federal resources and coordination 

23 are needed to reduce gang violence through proven 

24 and proactive prevention and intervention programs 


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1 that focus on keeping at-risk youth in school and out 

2 of the criminal justice system. 

3 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION AS A HIGH INTENSITY GANG ACTIV4 ITY AREA. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—A unit of local government, city, 

6 county, tribal government, or a group of counties (whether 

7 located in 1 or more States) may submit an application 

8 to the Attorney General for designation as a High Inten9 sity Gang Activity Area. 

10 (b) CRITERIA.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

12 establish criteria for reviewing applications sub13 mitted under subsection (a). 

14 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing criteria 

15 under subsection (a) and evaluating an application 

16 for designation as a High Intensity Gang Activity 

17 Area, the Attorney General shall consider— 

18 (A) the current and predicted levels of 

19 gang crime activity in the area; 

20 (B) the extent to which violent crime in 

21 the area appears to be related to criminal gang 

22 activity; 

23 (C) the extent to which the area is already 

24 engaged in local or regional collaboration reVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:58 Jan 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208

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1 garding, and coordination of, gang prevention 

2 activities; and 

3 (D) such other criteria as the Attorney 

4 General determines to be appropriate. 

5 SEC. 4. PURPOSE OF THE TASK FORCE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to coordinate Federal as7 sistance to High Intensity Gang Activity Areas, the Attor8 ney General shall establish an Interagency Gang Preven9 tion Task Force (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Task 

10 Force’’) in each such area, consisting of a representative 

11 from— 

12 (1) the Department of Justice; 

13 (2) the Department of Education; 

14 (3) the Department of Labor; 

15 (4) the Department of Health and Human 

16 Services; and 

17 (5) the Department of Housing and Urban De18 velopment. 

19 (b) COORDINATION.—For each High Intensity Gang 

20 Activity Area designated by the Attorney General under 

21 section 3, the Task Force shall— 

22 (1) coordinate the activities of the Federal Gov23 ernment to create a comprehensive gang prevention 

24 response, focusing on early childhood intervention, 

25 at-risk youth intervention, literacy, employment, 


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1 community policing, and comprehensive community2 based programs such as Operation Cease Fire; and 

3 (2) coordinate its efforts with local and regional 

4 gang prevention efforts. 

5 (c) PROGRAMS.—Each Task Force shall prioritize the 

6 needs of a High Intensity Gang Activity Area for funding 

7 under— 

8 (1) the Child Care and Development Block 

9 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 

10 (2) the Even Start programs under subpart 3 

11 of part B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

12 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.); 

13 (3) the Healthy Start Initiative under section 

14 330H of the Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 254c–8); 

16 (4) the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et 

17 seq.); 

18 (5) the 21st Century Community Learning Cen19 ters program under part B of title IV of the Ele20 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 7171 et seq.); 

22 (6) the Job Corps program under subtitle C of 

23 title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

24 U.S.C. 2881 et seq.); 


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1 (7) the community development block grant 

2 program under title I of the Housing and Commu3 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et 

4 seq.); 

5 (8) the Gang Resistance Education and Train6 ing projects under subtitle X of title III of the Vio7 lent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

8 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13921); 

9 (9) any program administered by the Office of 

10 Community Oriented Policing Services; 

11 (10) the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant 

12 program under part R of title I of the Omnibus 

13 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

14 U.S.C. 3796ee et seq.); 

15 (11) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice As16 sistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E 

17 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

18 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.); and 

19 (12) any other program that the Task Force 

20 determines to be appropriate. 

21 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) ANNUAL TASK FORCE REPORTS TO AG.— 

23 Not later than September 1 of each year, each Task 

24 Force shall submit to the Attorney General a report 

25 on the funding needs and programmatic outcomes 


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1 for each area designated as a High Intensity Gang 

2 Activity Area. 

3 (2) ANNUAL AG REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not 

4 later than December 1 of each year, the Attorney 

5 General shall submit a report to the appropriate 

6 committees of Congress and the Director of the Of7 fice of Management and Budget and the Domestic 

8 Policy Council that describes, for each designated 

9 High Intensity Gang Activity Area— 

10 (A) the specific long-term and short-term 

11 goals and objectives of each such area; 

12 (B) the measurements used to evaluate the 

13 performance of the High Intensity Gang Activ14 ity Area in achieving the long-term and short15 term goals described under subparagraph (A); 

16 (C) the age, composition, and membership 

17 of gangs in each such area; 

18 (D) the number and nature of crimes com19 mitted by gangs and gang members in each 

20 such area; 

21 (E) the definition of the term ‘‘gang’’ used 

22 to compile the information required under this 

23 subsection for each such area; and 


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1 (F) the programmatic outcomes and fund2 ing need of each High Intensity Gang Activity 

3 Area, including— 

4 (i) an evidence-based analysis of the 

5 best practices and outcomes from the work 

6 of the relevant local collaborative working 

7 group; and 

8 (ii) an analysis of whether Federal re9 sources distributed meet the needs of the 

10 High Intensity Gang Activity Area and, if 

11 any programmatic funding shortfalls exist, 

12 recommendations for programs or funding 

13 to meet such shortfalls. 

14 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

16 as are necessary to meet any needs identified by the Attor17 ney General or in any report submitted under section 

18 4(d)(2). 

Æ 


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