31-c-1 Definition and Discussion

• Library: A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (2020 Edition)

31-C-1. Definition and Discussion

Gang validation is the process by which prison officials determine that a prisoner is an associate or a member of a gang or Security Threat Group ("STG"). Once that decision has been made, the prisoner is often "administratively segregated," meaning that he is housed separately from, and receives different treatment than prisoners who have not been validated as gang members or associates. Although the specific procedures vary from state to state, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin all segregate suspected gang members from the rest of the prison population.⁶⁸ While a state prison system may use a standard written definition of what constitutes a gang member, the process for actually proving that someone is a gang member, and the amount of proof required, may vary by state.⁶⁹

Generally, the only way to be declassified as a gang member is to "debrief." "Debriefing" is a process that may involve informing prison officials of the identities and activities of fellow gang members. Debriefing can place the suspected gang member's well-being at risk, and expose him to retaliation. This Section discusses the problems that individuals who have tried to challenge their gang validation in court have experienced, and offers some suggestions for challenging gang validation through administrative proceedings rather than in court.

California's system of gang validation is one of the most developed and punitive in the country. California has been segregating suspected gang members since at least 1984, and other states have studied California in developing gang validation procedures of their own.⁷⁰ In California, and states with similar procedures, you are validated as a gang member if you are found to meet any three of several criteria.⁷¹ These criteria include, but are not limited to gang tattoos, correspondence to or from known gang members or correspondence that contains references to gang activity, wearing gang colors, association with known gang members, possession of gang-related literature, possession of a photograph of known gang members, and identification by a fellow prisoner as a gang member. Misconduct is not necessarily required to be labeled a gang member.

Florida uses the...