Section 14

Metiria Turei has made her opinion clear in a FrogBlog article (”Fashion laws to combat violence“) on Chester Borrows proposed gang patch ban.

Borrows said that a ban on patches and insignia will mean that people walking the street won’t be scared. But looking scary is entirely subjective and shouldn’t be a crime.

The proposed ban will simply turn our cops into real Fashion Police, but wont stop the majority of ‘gang’ violence that happens in our towns.

Wanganui District Council’s last attempt to pass a bylaw banning gang patches failed because the council doesn’t have the legal power to pass bylaw that contravene the NZ Bill of Rights Act.

The Press reported* yesterday that National MP Chester Borrows is poised to sponsor a bill in Parliament that would effect the ban. If the Wanganui ban succeeds, Christchurch is likely to follow suit. Christchurch mayor Garry Moore expressed his support for the idea in December. Everything I wrote then still stands.

Hat tip: No Right Turn.

*The story has disappeared from Stuff. This is Google’s cached copy.

Police in Christchurch want a bylaw to ban gang colours in Christchurch and mayor Garry Moore is behind the move “150 percent”.

“I would do everything in my power to rip every gang patch off in the city.

“Gang patches are disgusting. All power to the police,” he said.

“If the civil libertarians want to stand around selling drugs and killing our kids, then I’m in a different camp,” he said.

Council of Civil Liberties chairman Tony Ellis said, “People have freedom of expression and freedom of movement, and those are quite fundamental human rights.” He didn’t mention whether or not he wanted to stand round selling drugs and killing kids.

Mayor Garry Moore and his friends in the Christchurch Police might like to know that we already have a Crimes Act to deal with all of the actually bad things that these wannabe gangsters get up to. As Idiot/Savant at No Right Turn points out, something else Moore should know is that the Local Government Act requires all bylaws to be consistent with the NZ Bill Of Rights Act.

Wearing a particular style of clothes is a form of expression and should be protected no matter how unpleasant that expression is. We should allow people to express their views on race, we should allow them to burn flags, we should allow them to say what a top chap they think Satan is, we should allow music that promotes the lifestyle of tough Los Angeles gangsters - we should certainly allow people to dress like their unsavoury role models.

If these kids are going to get prosecuted for anything it should be lack of imagination - the Crips and the Bloods? How Ali G.

Moore’s solution to his inner city problems is to treat everyone like criminals. Literally. Department of Corrections rules ban the wearing of gang colours in prison. No prisoner is permitted to wear predominantly red (Mongrel Mob) or predominantly black (Black Power) clothing. How would Christchurch’s rules work? Are they going to ban red and black?

The Crips and Bloods don’t wear patches; they just wear predominantly blue (Crips) or red (Blood) clothing. It is unfathomable how this ban might work in a non-prison setting. Is Moore planning to skip out the police state and go straight to the prison state?

In Los Angeles, the (real) Crips and Bloods have largely stopped wearing gang colours because of police attention. Presumably Moore will want to ban gang hand signals next. Watch out all you Freemasons.