Are All Threats Created Equal?
By Kole Lyons.Gangs have been documented in Arizona as early as the 1930s. Since then, gangs have increased in number and become involved in more criminal activities around the state. As violent crime in Arizona was reaching a peak in 2005–2006, the state legislature amended the statute criminalizing threats to punish threats made by gang members harsher than threats by non-gang members. For example, if the average citizen makes a criminal threat, he will be charged with a misdemeanor; if a member of a gang makes the same threat, he will be charged with a felony. "Original Golfos" by El Chico Iwana is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 The reasoning behind this amendment likely came from the presumption that when a gang member makes a threat, they are more likely…