The county Public Defender's Office has joined the growing legal fight against a proposed Oxnard gang injunction, a move that prompted immediate protest from prosecutors who say taxpayer dollars should not be used to defend gang members in a civil case.

Late Wednesday, Public Defender Kenneth Clayman filed papers asking for legal standing in the case because many of the gang members affected are clients of his office.

The injunction names the La Colonia Chiques as an unincorporated association and would restrict the activities of gang members in a 6.6-square-mile portion of Oxnard called a safety zone. The restrictions include wearing gang clothing, associating with other gang members, intimidating witnesses, possessing alcohol and making gang signs.

If caught violating the injunction, gang members would be arrested and sent to jail on misdemeanor charges for up to six months.

Clayman said his office has not taken a stand for or against the injunction, but is seeking more time to study legal issues and possibly file further complaints. The motion sets the stage for filing appeals if the injunction is approved or the judge denies Clayman's request.

"This is such a broad, encompassing action that affects the rights of a large group of people, we want to make sure the judge has all the facts and arguments from all sides in this," Clayman said.

Chief Deputy Public Defender Neil Quinn, who drafted the motion, went further.

"This injunction is a request to create a whole group of second-class citizens with fewer rights than the rest of us," he said. "We want there to be another perspective before the judge besides just the police perspective in this. We want there to be full scrutiny of every legal question."

On Thursday, the District Attorney's Office filed a response saying the Public Defender's Office should stay out of the case because it would be overstepping its role. Gang members are only entitled to an attorney at public expense in criminal cases, said Patricia Murphy, chief assistant district attorney.

"The public defender doesn't represent the Colonia Chiques gang as a whole, and that's the defendant the injunction names," Murphy said. "The individuals who are affected by this are not entitled to counsel at public expense. The public defender can't and shouldn't intervene."

Clayman rejected those arguments, saying his office will be severely impacted if the injunction goes through.

"We have clients who will be targeted by this injunction and it will have enormous impact on our work down the road in the criminal arena," Clayman said. "It's the traditional role of the public defender to keep the system honest. ... I don't tell the District Attorney's Office who to prosecute, and he doesn't tell me who to defend. If the fox is guarding the henhouse, that's when we have a problem."

An eleventh-hour challenge was also filed Wednesday by attorneys representing the unnamed 500 people who are alleged to be part of the Colonia gang. That motion argues that the injunction is too broad and vague, and would give police too much power to stop and question anyone, anytime, within the safety zone.

Attorneys John Hachmeister and Gabriella Novarro-Busch were hired by community activists who raised money through carwashes and food sales.

There are 40 gang injunctions in place throughout Southern California. Courts have upheld injunctions as a legal civil tool that allows police to curtail the power and intimidation gangs hold over neighborhoods.