A caller recently asked me whether it is a crime to use gang signs. First, some background. According to one gang expert, “each gang has their own gang hand signs that they use to show allegiance to their gang or to disrespect . . . rival gang members. Many gangs have created hand signs, using their fingers and hands, to represent letters of the alphabet and other signs to represent a word or a phrase. Most members become highly proficient at this ‘art’ and can communicate with others without speaking. Displaying these gang hand signs is known as ‘flashing’ or ‘throwing’ the signs.” Signs vary from gang to gang, so there isn’t a universal dictionary of gang signs, but some examples can be viewed here and here. The first place I looked was the Street Gang Suppression Act, G.S. 14-50.15 et seq. But I didn’t see anything there that would prohibit the use of gang signs. Then I remembered G.S. 14-12.4, which makes it “unlawful for any person to use . . . any signs, grips, [or] passwords . . . in the furtherance of . . . any purpose of violating . . . the laws of the State.” Could that statute apply to gang signs? As a matter of historical interest, G.S. 14-12.4 is part of Article 4A of Chapter 14, entitled “Prohibited Secret Societies and Activities.” That article was enacted in 1953, and was known at the time as the “anti-Ku Klux Klan statute.” A Survey of Statutory [...]
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