By LIA STEAKLEY YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
LONG BEACH -- Ah spring, a time when a young man's fancy might turn to ditching class, staying out all night, getting high and committing serious felony crimes. Which is why the Long Beach Police Department's Youth Services Division will be out in full force this week, enforcing curfew laws for minors who are on spring break.
Kept in proper perspective and not viewed as an anti-crime panacea, teen-curfew laws have much to recommend them. We'll join the chorus of those who would like to see them reinstated in Yakima and other Valley communities. Many curfews have been derailed by state Supreme Court decisions over the years, but prevailing thought is that there should be a way that such ordinances can be written to satisfy court concerns while putting this valuable tool back in place. Three Supreme Court rulings have focused on curfews. In 1973, the state court deemed a curfew ordinance unconstitutional, but did stipulate that a juvenile curfew ordinance "may be permissible where they are specific in their prohibition and necessary in curing a demonstrated social evil.
A federal appeals court decision handed down more than a year ago has prompted some area police departments and municipal courts to rethink the way they handle curfew violations. At issue is whether curfew ordinances are so broad that they infringe on the First Amendment rights of young people.
SCHOOLS: Police would cease giving $250 tickets to young people not in class during the day. After years of a get-tough policy on truants, a Los Angeles city official has proposed easing the city's daytime curfew laws, saying it was aimed at minority students and created a hardship.
...-even a political rally in support of laws against corporalpunishment of children, or laws i...C. §505(a). And minors remain subjectto curfew laws across the country, see Brief for Louisianaet...
New Jersey's young drivers face tighter rules -- including more practice, a narrower curfew and a class for parents -- eight years after the state first issued restricted licenses. The proposed laws follow recommendations made last year in a report by the Teen Driver Study Commission, appointed in 2007 to examine how inexperienced youth fare on New Jersey roads. Their findings were the most in-depth since 2001, when the state adopted "graduated" licenses, which restrict privileges for those between 16 and 20, but relax the controls as drivers gain experience.
Saddle Brook has joined the ranks of dozens of municipalities in Bergen and Passaic counties with teen curfew laws on the books by passing an ordinance that will establish a 10 p.m. limit for all youth 17 and under, effective July 25. The council approved the ordinance 3-1 after listening to a full room of residents complain for 90 minutes of youth gone wild in Saddle Brook. Homeowners told stories of group underage drinking after dark, vandalized property, gangs of disrespectful teens on mo- peds, and parents who would rather drop their kids off to hang out with friends on the corner than have them in their own homes.
Hopewell is proposing to amend the city's curfew for juveniles and that has drawn the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia. Recently, Hopewell Police Chief Steve Martin proposed changes to the city's curfew laws. Hopewell City Council endorsed the changes on Nov. 17 through an amendment of the curfew ordinance.
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