CALIFORNIA
Curfews Cropping Up Everywhere
Several municipalities and counties have enacted or are attempting to enact daytime curfews, causing quite a stir in California. The stated purposes of these curfews are to enforce compulsory attendance and reduce juvenile crime during daylight hours.
Home schoolers have been the primary opponents of daytime curfews and have had some success preventing their passage in various cities throughout the state. Now the stakes have been raised. Governor Pete Wilson likes the idea of daytime curfews and his office has drafted legislation introduced by Assemblyman Jay Goldsmith which would impose a daytime curfew for the entire state of California.
Assembly Bill 1151 would, with specified exceptions, make it an infraction (a crime) for a minor who is found loitering (another way of saying "seen in a public place") during regular school hours on days when the student's school is in session. The violation would be handled in juvenile court by a juvenile traffic judge.
When a ticket is issued, a minor would be informed that he or she must be accompanied by a parent to the hearing. Failure by the parent to appear at the hearing would constitute contempt of court, and a warrant could be issued for the parent's arrest. The bill further states that any city or county can enact its own curfew ordinance.
HSLDA has opposed daytime curfews for the following reasons. Daytime curfews:
- violate the minor's fundamental constitutional right to freedom of movement in public without been subjected to prior governmental restraint as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
- violate the fundamental legal principle of the presumption of innocence, protected by the Due Process Clause of the 5th and 14th Amendments.
- result in violations of the minor's 4th Amendment right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures.
- interfere with the parents' fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, especially for parents with children in small private or home schools which are not restricted to the confines of the conventional classroom.
- are, in essence, beefed-up truancy ordinances. The California legislature has already addressed the area of truancy in a comprehensive way. The present laws addressing minors simply need to be enforced.
- will result in selective enforcement. Since officers cannot stop all juveniles during school hours to check IDs, they will be selective. This opens the door to dangerous potential for unequal treatment of minors based upon race, looks, dress, etc. These ordinances will simply divert attention from real crime prevention programs and interfere with effective police work.
- will not deter the serious juvenile lawbreakers. However, hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent minors will suffer the inconvenience of unwarranted stops, detentions, and harassment, not to mention the added cost to taxpayers for the enforcement of the curfew.
- train young citizens to accept as normal constraints which are inconsistent with the freedom they should be taught to enjoy responsibly in their adult years.
- send a message to self-disciplined and responsible young people that the community makes no distinction between them and irresponsible youths.
- will likely result in registration of privately educated students, including home schoolers, with police departments and the attendant issuance of ID cards and badges.
By the time this newsletter reaches the mailbox, California members may have already received an alert from our office or Family Protection Ministries requesting action on A.B. 1151. If the bill is not withdrawn, home schoolers will need to let their elected officials know how vigorously they oppose daytime curfews.
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