just where in the constitution does it give the feds the power to pass laws regualting gang bangers????? Original Article Debate rages over bill to fight violent gangs David Crary Associated Press May. 10, 2005 12:00 AM NEW YORK - The rapid spread of vicious street gangs such as MS-13 is causing alarm in cities and suburbs nationwide, igniting bitter debate about how best to combat the threat and inspiring a comprehensive anti-gang bill in Congress. The measure is depicted by supporters as the only effective way to counterattack gang violence and assailed by critics as an overreaction that could clog both federal courts and adult prisons with youthful offenders, most of them minorities. Sponsored by Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., the bill moved swiftly through the House Judiciary Committee last month. "These aren't petty hoodlums," Forbes said. "They're cutting people's heads off, doing countersurveillance on police. . . . They're trained in a type of violence we've not seen heretofore." In Virginia recently, gang victims have been hacked by machetes and had fingers cut off. Affiliated gangs in Central America are suspected in several recent beheadings of young women. The bill's supporters include the National Sheriffs' Association and the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest law enforcement union. Opponents include numerous high-powered civil rights groups: the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch and others. They cite FBI findings that serious youth crime is declining and say states, not the federal government, can best address the gang problem and worry about long-term consequences for teenage offenders sent to adult prisons. "We, too, want to do something about gang violence," said Angela Arboleda of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization. "But punitive measures that lock up youths with adults is not a smart approach." Arboleda says that Forbes' measure, which the representative has nicknamed "The Gangbusters Bill," "is one of the worst bills we've ever seen." According to Forbes, street gang membership in the United States has grown steadily to more than 750,000, outnumbering police officers. He said a federal approach is needed because gangs such as MS-13, the Central American-influenced Mara Salvatrucha, have spread to many states. "They're organized; they have a board of directors inside prison and outside prison," Forbes said. "Even while in prison, they recruit teens, even down to elementary school." Critics of the bill say state and local police agencies could escalate the fight against such gangs under existing laws.