District Attorney Neal Pinkston talks outside of Judge Tom Greenholtz’s courtroom.NASHVILLE – Tennessee lawmakers’ April rewrite of a criminal gang sentence-enhancement law after the original statute was struck down in court has caught the interest of Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston.
At first blush, Pinkston said, the General Assembly’s revisions may have addressed concerns in the April 7 ruling by the state Court of Criminal Appeals that sections of the 2012 gang enhancement statute were unconstitutional.
“Hopefully this legislative fix will pass constitutional scrutiny and allow us to use gang enhancements as they’re intended,” Pinkston said. “While using the [revamped] law does take more work by investigators to prove a crime was committed as part of a gang’s operation, it will allow us to lock up violent gang members for longer periods of time.”