This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An alleged gang member is taking to the U.S. Supreme Court a challenge to an injunction barring him from associating with other alleged Ogden Trece members.
Isaac Rader, 19, says Ogden's gang injunction violates his freedom of association and protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
"The government in Utah is basically using this [injunction] to violate the Constitution, and if we don't get the Supreme Court to review this ... they will just continue," said Rader's attorney, Michael Studebaker on Tuesday.
Studebaker has filed a writ of certiorari requesting the high court review the injunction. The Utah Court of Appeals and Utah Supreme Court have already declined to hear the case, ruling that the constitutional issues weren't properly raised at the lower court level.
The U.S. Supreme Court only hears 1 percent of requested cases, but Studebaker said gang injunctions are an important issue, especially since they are going into effect all over the country, including Texas, New York and Washington state.
The high court declined to hear a challenge to a similar California law in 1997, but a later decision finding a Chicago anti-loitering law unconstitutional leaves open the possibility the justices may consider challenges to other gang injunctions, he said.
If the Supreme Court declines to hear the case, Studebaker said, there is still a pending civil case that could provide another avenue to challenge the law.
Weber County Attorney Dee Smith declined to comment on the appeal.
Ogden's injunction, which went into effect in 2010, bars about 350 alleged Trece members from associating with each other in an area that includes most of Ogden, sets a curfew and prohibits them from carrying guns or graffiti tools in public.
Rader is the only person to be arrested for the sole offense of violating the injunction, Studebaker said. He was picked up in October 2010 when the car he was riding was stopped for a minor traffic violation about 11:30 p.m., after the injunction's curfew, Studebaker said.
Studebaker argued and lost a case at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006, concerning whether Brigham City police acted legally in entering a home without a warrant in 2001 to stop a fight.
Rader pleaded guilty to the class B misdemeanor and was sentenced to 90 days probation and a $500 fine, according to court records.
Rader was arrested again the following month and charged with violating the injunction and consuming alcohol underage. He pleaded guilty to the alcohol offense and the injunction violation was dismissed, according to court records.
Twitter: @lwhitehurst