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Sunday, November 06, 2005

Ind. Law - Tale of two cities and their curfew laws

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has two stories today on curfew laws. One is headlined "Police making do without teen curfew law" and reports that:

City police don’t arrest Fort Wayne teens for staying out past 1 a.m. anymore, but they still keep tabs on the numbers of kids they spot out long after the street lights come on.

Making sure kids get home safely at a decent hour, police said, is part of what officers do to protect the city’s young people. But Fort Wayne police are doing the job without the power of a curfew law and with less money to keep a juvenile safety program going at full force.

The curfew law is defunct because of a federal appeals court ruling last year. And the department did not continue receiving a grant that paid for the program for the past year. But officials believe it’s worth the time and money to continue a scaled-down version of the program.

Before the curfew law was thrown out by the court, police conducted sweeps and focused on kids who violated the curfew. Now, a small group of officers hit the city streets looking for parties, drinking and poor driving most weekends during the summer and several other times throughout the school year.

The second story (both are by Amanda Iacone) reports that:
Indianapolis officials fought to keep its curfew law on the books.

The city revised its own law after the state’s version was ruled unconstitutional three times during the last several years. The city has amended its local ordinance, and in July the Indianapolis Police Department began enforcing a curfew law again, said Lt. Lloyd Crowe, spokesman for the department.

Under the city’s new law, breaking curfew is an infraction, not a crime.

Indianapolis police used to arrest children but now issue citations. Possible fines range from $50 to $2,500.

Sunday through Thursday, those younger than 18 must not be in public past 11 p.m. unless they are going to or from a job, school or religious activity or they are with a parent or guardian. Friday and Saturday nights, teens ages 15, 16 and 17 can stay out until 1 a.m. The 11 p.m. curfew still applies to children ages 14 and under on the weekend. The old state law included these same restrictions.

The updated Indianapolis law, however, gives parents the chance to say they allowed their children to be out past curfew. But for police, the parental exception clause takes some of the bite out of the law, Crowe said.

The state’s curfew law was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge because it infringed on parental rights, and it was upheld last year by a federal appeals court.

The ILB has had a number of curfew law entries.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 6, 2005 11:55 AM
Posted to Indiana Law