Posted on 11/19/2004 8:20:07 AM PST by JesseHousman
TALLAHASSEE -The state Supreme Court struck down two curfew laws in Southwest Florida, placing others in doubt.
A closely divided Florida Supreme Court struck down two juvenile-curfew laws in Southwest Florida on Thursday, jeopardizing similar ones throughout the state, including one in Miami-Dade County that served as a model for others statewide.
In the 4-3 opinion, the majority of 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, and because they criminally punished parents and even shop owners who condoned or couldn't control kids' curfew-breaking.
The 91-page opinion and its dissents concern a number of municipalities in Florida that passed juvenile curfew laws after Miami-Dade's ordinance survived a challenge at the appellate court level in the mid-1990s.
Key West, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale have laws similar to those in Miami-Dade, Tampa and Pinellas Park. All have slightly different language but seek the same thing: to keep minors off the streets after 11 p.m. or midnight. The other laws may stay on the books unless challenged.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which sued Miami-Dade in the mid-1990s and brought the lead suit in Pinellas Park, said the laws have a target: young minorities. Two of the three youths who challenged Pinellas Park's restrictions are black.
''There is a radical difference between the well-intentioned and high-sounding words of the ordinance and the way it ends up being enforced on a day-to-day basis -- which is typically against young black men,'' said Howard Simon, the ACLU's executive director in Florida.
In Fort Lauderdale, a law was passed in 1997 but wasn't really used at all, said city police Detective Chuck Sierra.
''It was basically abandoned,'' he said. ``What was problematic for us was where are we going to put them? We would be stuck baby-sitting the child until somebody relieved us.''
SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE
Miami-Dade County Attorney Robert Ginsburg noted the county's success defending the law, but said he would have to wade through Thursday's opinion before commenting. Ginsburg, the Miami-Dade state attorney's office and a Metro-Dade police spokesman declined to say whether the law has been effective or how often it is used.
Key West was a latecomer to the curfew-law craze, passing its ordinance in 2002 as the town gentrified and tried to tone down. But, as in Miami-Dade, police don't appear to use the law often. A spokesman for the Key West Police Department said officers use the ordinance as ''a tool'' to get kids off the streets and usually take them home or have parents pick them up at the police station.
Miami Beach City Attorney Murray Dubbin said the new ruling should have little effect on Miami Beach's enforcement of the county's curfew ordinance. He said the city's law, like the county's, was narrowly tailored and would survive a challenge because it provides civil -- not criminal -- penalties for repeat violators.
Tampa and Pinellas Park provided criminal penalties that ''are possibly the most troubling aspect,'' Justice Peggy A. Quince wrote in the majority opinion.
The justices also seemed troubled with the fact that, in Tampa's law, ''business operators who knowingly permit a juvenile to remain on business premises during curfew hours are also subject to the sanctions.'' Though Miami-Dade and some of the other cities have civil penalties, they still seek to penalize private businesses and parents involved in curfew violations.
POSSIBLE JAIL TIME
In Tampa and Pinellas Park, kids, shopkeepers and parents could be thrown in jail and fined for a first curfew violation. In Miami-Dade, a parent or shopkeeper could only be fined up to $500 starting with a third curfew violation. Kids could be taken to a holding facility.
Miami-Dade's law, passed at the insistence of former Commissioner James Burke in 1994, embodies the tone of alarm sounded in nearly every ordinance: It is ``a matter of fact that Miami-Dade County is facing a mounting crisis caused by increasing crime, including juvenile crime and delinquency which threatens peaceful citizens, residents, and visitors.''
But that determination might not cut it. The justices rapped Tampa's law because officials in that city didn't provide statistical data showing the need for it. Pinellas Park officials did provide the required data.
The lead lawyer in the case, Bruce Howie, said he was encouraged by the opinion. In his case, a white girl identified only as T.M. was cited by Pinellas Park police when she stepped beyond the curb of her friend's home, where she was staying overnight, to talk to some boys in a car at 1 a.m.
''She was there with her mother's permission. So this ordinance interfered with her mother's right as a parent giving consent to her child to stay over and her right to be in the street just talking to some boys,'' Howies said. ``Police have better things to concern themselves with.''
Herald staff writers Jennifer Babson, Nicole White and Samuel P. Nitze contributed to this report.
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© 2004 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.miami.com
Maybe a few million leftwing teachers as well. Popular culture presses this time and time again, portraying parents as dumb, simple, while children "know everything".....
one more:
THE ORIGINAL US BILL OF RIGHTS PAGE:
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/9526/bor1.html
Children can go get an abortion without telling Mom or Dad.....because activist left wing judges essentially believe that a child's whims supercede parental rights. In spite of all of these examples, you'll still insist that their is no concerted effort underway.
The question I asked was to Nathaniel Fisher...
He said "If there's a legitimate reason for a teen to be out late...."
His comment stated that he felt if they had a legitimate reason to be out.....so I asked what "he" felt were legitimate reasons to be out. I have a legitimate question which I don't think you can answer since you're not him.
By the way, you may want to try something other than the "Simpsons" as an authority on Constitutional law. It all makes sense now.
Yeah, sure.
By the way welcome to Free Republic. It's much better than Democrat Underground, don't you think?
No, actually it means that our grandparents had similar opinions about the matter, which I share.
Thanks for playing "Jerk of the Day". You might not win but you made a good showing.
Sort of like, Roe vs. Wade, right?
Knowing Freepers like I do, I doubt yours is the consensus that was reached.
So how are things at the DUmp lately. Mixing up the Kool-Aid I suppose.
It's pretty well known that your rights aren't fully realized when you're a minor. For example, the right to vote is applicable only to those over 18; the right to keep and bear arms is similarly controlled.
A youth curfew is a great thing. I do wonder about the punishment of business owners who don't enforce the law for them though
That's a great tactic. When your argument fails, turn to personal attacks.
Looks like you're the one familiar with the liberal mindset. In case you're unaware, this is a forum dedicated to conservatism. You know - the ideology that belives in LESS government?
Nice try. But the right of a minor to worship as they see fit is their right, and their right alone.
Well, unless you can find me a single federal court decision that says otherwise.
The extent of governmental control over education should be providing one at taxpayer expense if, and only if it's not being adequately provided by the parents. Testing to ensure a complete education is the most the govt. should ever get involved.
Once they NEA is able to declare that failing to teach homosexuality and the theory of macroevolution constitutes inadequate education, then we'll have to start firing some public officials for sure.
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