KEY STICKING POINTS PULLED FROM ANTI-GANG MEASURE.Byline: LISA The first personal computer to include integrated software and use a graphical interface. Modeled after the Xerox Star and introduced in 1983 by Apple, it was ahead of its time, but never caught on due to its $10,000 price and slow speed. FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- California Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. stepped up a decadelong dec·ade·long adj. Lasting a decade: a decadelong national research effort. effort to pass federal anti-gang legislation Wednesday, stripping out several controversial provisions that had stymied the bill's progress. The bill, co-authored by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (born March 22, 1934) is a Republican United States Senator from Utah, serving since 1977. Hatch is a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, where he serves on the subcommittees on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure and Taxation and IRS , no longer contains a provision expanding the death penalty but still includes tough enforcement measures. The bill makes recruiting minors into a gang a federal crime, establishes higher penalties for gang crimes and allows wiretaps in gang-related criminal investigations. It also calls for a $1 billion infusion into both law enforcement and prevention programs, and it draws on recommendations from a recent Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. report to directly fund school-based programs and to establish a think tank to address gang issues. ``For more than 10 years now, Sen. Hatch and I have been trying to pass federal anti-gang legislation,'' Feinstein said in a printed statement Wednesday. ``Unfortunately, while Congress has failed to act, violent street gangs have expanded nationwide and become more empowered and entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. in our communities. The federal government cannot wait any longer to strengthen its own criminal laws.'' In addition to eliminating the death-penalty expansion, Feinstein agreed to cancel a provision making it easier to prosecute children as adults. Aides said she was willing to compromise on those points to push a broader anti-gang agenda. Activists also noted the new bill tightens the definition of a criminal street gang to mean a group of five or more people who have committed three or more separate felonies within five years. That was another sticking point for some who had felt the original definition was broad and left too many people vulnerable to wrongful arrest. ``It does sound like the bill has improved,'' said Jesselyn McCurdy, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. , though she cautioned it is too soon to say if the organization or other activist groups will endorse the bill. lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com (202) 662-8731 |
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