VISTA -- A judge made permanent Tuesday an order intended to curb crime in Oceanside's Eastside area by restricting the activities of a street gang that authorities say was terrorizing residents.

The gang injunction, which imposes limits on the behavior of 25 suspected gang members, has been in effect on a temporary basis since October. It is the second civil court order to target the Varrio Posole Locos gang and is the fourth gang injunction to apply to neighborhoods in Oceanside. The other two restrict members of the Varrio Mesa Locos and Center Street gangs.

The first Posole injunction, in effect since 1997, helped make the Eastside community safer, but a new, younger group of Posole members not restricted by the first court order started becoming active, said Deputy District Attorney Terri Perez. As a result, police and prosecutors sought a new injunction.

Nineteen of the 25 men named as defendants in the gang injunction are younger than 23. Ten of those are younger than 20.

"These guys have been pretty active," Perez said. "Some of the people included on this injunction have been terrorizing citizens."

Perez said none of the 25 men lodged a formal challenge to the court order. Three of the men, including one juvenile in custody, appeared in court Tuesday, but none said they opposed having Judge K. Michael Kirkman make the order permanent.

The two men who were not in custody declined to comment as they left the courtroom after Tuesday's hearing.

Critics of gang injunctions, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, say the legal actions unfairly target poor minorities who cannot afford to hire attorneys to contest the allegations and end up being robbed of their personal freedoms. State appeals courts have ruled that gang injunctions do not violate the rights of suspected gang members. Appeals courts have also ruled that the law does not require the court to appoint attorneys at public expense to represent civil defendants in gang injunction cases.

The Posole injunction made permanent Tuesday prohibits the 25 named defendants from engaging in several activities within a so-called "safety zone" bounded by Highway 76 to the north, Poplar Road connecting to North Carey Road to the east, Interstate 5 to the west and Mission Avenue to the south.

The activities the injunction prohibits include: associating in public with any known Posole gang member; fighting in public streets or on private property; blocking the free passage of any person or vehicle on any sidewalk, street or area of public passage; intimidating, harassing, assaulting or battering residents or visitors to the "safety zone;" using gang hand signs; wearing gang clothes; and possessing markers, spray-paint cans or other items that can be used to create graffiti vandalism.

Those named in the injunction can be arrested, prosecuted and potentially sent to jail for violating the terms of the gang injunction.

Contact staff writer Scott Marshall at (760) 631-6623 or smarshall@nctimes.com.