Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy announced the filing of a bill designed to fix four loopholes in the Maryland Gang Prosecution Act that was passed in 2007. The bill will be filed by freshman Del. Gerron Levi, a Democrat from Prince George's County, and Jessamy's office said it has "broad bi-partisan support including Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch and Del. Mary Dulany-James." Of the 23 co-sponsors, 19 are Democrats and four at least six are Republicans.

Jessamy said in the three years since the law was enacted, it has been rarely used by prosecutors due to broad language and weak penalties, and because it does not allow for some common gang crimes such as witness intimidation to be charged. It's a sentencing enhancement bill that allows for tougher penalties if a crime is committed by a gang member or in furtherance of a gang activity.

The proposed revisions would tighten up the language, "establish a statewide gang member validation criteria, add additional gang related offenses to the list of underlying crimes, and make the penalty for a violation of the statute a true enhanced penalty."

The 2007 bill created a rift among state's attorneys and the Attorney General's Office that I covered during a stint reporting on the General Assembly. There were differences between what elements to include, and how much jurisdiction to allow the attorney general's office, which had traditionally investigated white-collar and environmental crimes.