Norteños

This article focuses on Hispanic street and prison gangs, which – along with other gangs – constitute a significant and iconic phenomenon of contemporary political discourse in the United States, as well as social and economic life in this country. In the XXI century, the prison systems of most countries continue to be characterised by…

On January 27, 1994, around 2:30 p.m., a caravan of vehicles, including a white Datsun, drove by the residences of Jesus Mesa, Margarito (Mago) and Andres Reyes, and Antonio Gomez on Lotus Street in San Jose. Jesus Mesa heard Antonio yell “Sureño” at the caravan. The vehicles returned and stopped. Several Hispanic males emerged and…

Edgardo Ortiz Guevara was sentenced to 28 years to life under the “Three Strikes” law. His third strike was a nonserious, nonviolent felony. Guevara also had prior prison term enhancements. When the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012, was enacted by California voters, Guevara petitioned the trial court for relief from his life sentence. A…

Armando Ramirez, an Hispanic inmate at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison, sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that prison officials had discriminated against him on the basis of race when they: (1) subjected Hispanic inmates to a more intensive security-level reclassification review; (2) denied all Hispanic inmates the ability to work as “critical workers”…

Most of Zachary Skone’s convictions arose from his shooting of Dane Alexander on January 14, 2018. As part of the prosecution, the State sought to show that non-Latinx Caucasian Skone was either a member of the Norteños, a criminal street gang typically associated with Mexican-Americans, or he sought to be a member. The State also…