FLORIDA SUPREME COURT JUSTICES OVERTURN TWO YOUTH CURFEWS

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/10218987.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp ^ | 11/19/2004 | Marc Caputo

[JesseHousman]

...because they targeted minors who committed no other crime than being night owls...

Night owls my Hillary! These are hoods that need to be kept off the streets at night to keep the crime rate down!

[Prime Choice]

...justices said the laws in Tampa and neighboring Pinellas Park were too broad because they targeted minors who committed no other crime than being night owls...

WTF? Someone needs to take these robed jackasses and put them in a crowd of these "night owls" for a couple of nights. That'll change their tune right pronto.

[blackdog]

"Nothing good occurs past midnight outside the home"

Words from my grandmother which are absolute.

[JesseHousman]

Maybe they're playing midnight basketball. (Another Klinton legacy.)

[KC_Conspirator]

I think that this is a local issue that state judges need not to involve themselves in. If your town wants kids under 16 in a midnight, then thats the way it should be.

[JeffAtlanta]

I think that this is a local issue that state judges need not to involve themselves in. If your town wants kids under 16 in a midnight, then thats the way it should be.

Do you think its constitutional? Not saying it's not - just asking.

[mysterio]

Good. Parents need to make that decision, not the state. I remember this crap from when I was a teenager. It teaches you to look at any authority as a threat. It teaches you to not trust or support law enforcement.

[gdani]

These are hoods that need to be kept off the streets at night to keep the crime rate down!

So why not curfews for adults too?

I don't know what version of the Bill of Rights you have, but mine doesn't come with a disclaimer that says "does not apply to those under 18 years of age".

[NonValueAdded]

This case? SC02-2288 - State Of Florida v. J.P.

[zook]

Ban curfews, but enforce loitering laws.

[JesseHousman]

Au contraire, mon ami.

(A little French lingo there to show I bear no prejudice against frogs.)

Of course being a Libertarian you would feel that way.

In today's society, practically half of America's parents (the ones who vote for DemocRATs and Libertarians) haven't got the sense God gave a cucumber. They're so busy procreating, slurping suds, sucking on a cigaret or mj, watching weeks of mindless crap on their tv that they haven't a clue as to where their little potential robbers and killers are hanging out.

Polite society needs protection against these little weasels until they're old enough to commit major crimes and get free room and board in the slammer.

I'll bet you were a dandy teen and look: you've grown up to hate law enforcement.

[NonValueAdded]

Opinion by QUINCE, J.; PARIENTE, C.J., and ANSTEAD and LEWIS, JJ., concur.

WELLS, J., dissents with an opinion, in which CANTERO, J., concurs. CANTERO, J., dissents with an opinion, in which WELLS and BELL, JJ., concur.

For the record, not that merit retention votes seem to have any effect.

[JesseHousman]

Amen, KC.

[mysterio]

It's not the government's responsibility to parent a child. That's the parents' responsibility.

I was a "dandy" teen. I earned good grades and got into no trouble. But it wasn't because of some stupid statist curfew. And I don't hate law enforcement. But I do have a healthy distrust of authority, one which has been proven correct in every case.

[L98Fiero]

"Nothing good occurs past midnight outside the home"

Your grandmother is dead-on! My grandfather was of the same opinion. On a late-night trip back from the emergency room when I was a kid, I asked a question, "Why are these people out so late?" Grandfather's reply: "I don't know but you cant bet that at this hour they are up to no good."

[blackdog]

When you think about it from a state government employees union perspective, it makes perfect sense for the justices to reach this decision, and thus needing full budgeting and funding of police, emergency service, and other municipal employees needing to babysit the after midnight garbage.

Just job security I suppose. That and if they tire themselves out during the night, they are not likely to have a full tank of mischief during the daytime when the justices and other enlightened public are at risk.

[JesseHousman]

A local government, serving the majority and properly empowered, has the right to keep these little rats off the streets at night. These delinquents have no parents! They have idiots in the place of parents.

A few years ago I had occasion to be downtown in a major Ohio city, after 11:00 PM and saw these "night owls" hustling older citizens at a bus stop. Before I could intervene a policeman did.

The papers are full of police blotter stories about what these juvenile "owls" are doing.

I repeat the bottom line: these teens have no parents in the sense that you and I know the term.

[JesseHousman]

For some reason, Gdani, I have trouble following Libertarian attempts at reasoning.

[gdani]

For some reason, Gdani, I have trouble following Libertarian attempts at reasoning

I'm not a Libertarian, although I'm sure I agree with them on this. I am for a smaller, less intrusive Govt. It's a shame we don't agree on that point.

Tell me, though, why not curfews for adults? Adults certainly commit more crimes than minors.