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OCDA Agrees to End All Gang Injunctions After Legal
Threat by PJLC

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer moved to dismantle the county’s entire gang injunction program after the Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC) formally threatened litigation that would have forced a halt to enforcement.

On June 24, Spitzer announced that his office would seek to dismiss all 13 active gang injunctions, which—according to court filings and press reports—covered 317 people across Santa Ana, Anaheim, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Orange, San Juan Capistrano, and San Clemente. Some of the injunctions dated back to 2006.

The announcement followed a demand letter from PJLC warning that the continued enforcement of gang injunctions was unlawful and exposed the County to a taxpayer lawsuit seeking a court order prohibiting further enforcement. The planned lawsuit would have been brought by a coalition that included community members directly impacted by injunctions, community advocates, and clergy, and would have asked the court to immediately bar the District Attorney from continuing to enforce the injunctions.

PJLC identified two independent and fatal legal defects in Orange County’s gang injunction program. First, Assembly Bill 333, enacted in 2022, fundamentally changed California law by sharply narrowing the legal definition of a “gang” and “gang activity.” Under AB 333, the District Attorney could no longer rely on decades-old findings. Each injunction would have had to be re-litigated in court from the ground up under the new law. The OCDA had not done so.

More importantly, PJLC warned that the injunctions also violated the California Racial Justice Act (RJA). For years, the OCDA had used gang injunctions exclusively against groups it labeled “traditional Hispanic” gangs, while entirely ignoring white gangs operating in Orange County. This racially selective enforcement is unlawful under the RJA, which prohibits criminal legal practices that result in racial discrimination, regardless of intent.

For example, the OCDA’s failed to prosecute the Rise Above Movement, a violent white power gang based in Huntington Beach that became nationally known for coordinated assaults on Black Lives Matter protesters. Despite clear evidence of organized criminal activity, the OCDA never pursued a gang-based prosecution. Ultimately, it was the federal government—not Orange County—that stepped in to bring charges.

Faced with the certainty of litigation under both AB 333 and the Racial Justice Act, Spitzer chose to move for dismissal rather than defend the injunctions in court. While he publicly framed the decision as “proactive,” it came only after PJLC made clear that continued enforcement would not survive judicial review.

As of the time of this announcement, the injunctions are not immediately dissolved. The District Attorney has filed motions asking the court to dismiss the injunctions but a judge still needed to approve those requests. The formal dissolution process is expected to take several months, during which PJLC will continue monitoring the case to ensure the injunctions are fully and permanently terminated.

Gang injunctions are civil court orders that can restrict where people go, who they associate with, and what they wear—often without any criminal conviction. Violations can lead to arrest and jail time. For years, advocates documented how these injunctions criminalized everyday life, including family gatherings, standing outside one’s home, or being out after curfew.

Orange County’s retreat from gang injunctions follows a broader statewide collapse of the practice. Over the past decade, jurisdictions including Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Long Beach, and San Diego abandoned injunctions after legal challenges, declining crime rates, and growing recognition that the practice is ineffective and discriminatory.

That Orange County held on longer is no accident. Todd Spitzer is the only district attorney in California to have been found by a judge to have personally violated the Racial Justice Act, based on racist comments made in his official capacity. His decision to seek dismissal only after legal threat underscores the importance of sustained, enforceable civil rights advocacy.

This outcome demonstrates how strategic litigation—paired with legislative reform—can dismantle entrenched and discriminatory policing practices, even in jurisdictions resistant to change.

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Correction (August 28, 2025):

This post originally stated, consistent with public filings and contemporaneous press reports, that Orange County’s gang injunctions affected 317 people. At a subsequent hearing held in open court, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office admitted that more than 1,000 people had been told by law enforcement that they were subject to gang injunctions, even though the District Attorney never filed paperwork with the court to place them under injunction orders.

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