Louisiana
Welcomed Victory in Lafayette
When the Lafayette City Council proposed a daytime curfew, its citizens went into action. Like many communities across the nation, the Lafayette City Council was looking for a tougher way to combat truancy, and a daytime curfew seemed to be the logical answer. Daytime curfews allow police officers to detain truants and cite parents on the first offense, thus giving “teeth” to truancy laws. However, in the process, law-abiding citizens lose essential freedoms guaranteed to them by the U.S. Constitution.
When a Home School Legal Defense Association member family learns about a proposed daytime curfew ordinance and calls our office for assistance, we provide them with a helpful packet of information on how to organize local opposition to the daytime curfew, raise key arguments, select the best strategies, and start letter writing campaigns. HSLDA asks the family to obtain a copy of the ordinance and find out when the next hearing on the ordinance is scheduled. After reviewing the ordinance and the state law, HSLDA composes a legal analysis of the ordinance and asks the family to provide a copy for each city council member.
In many instances, deterring a city council from passing such an ordinance can be an uphill battle. It requires a large turnout for hearings, and articulate, broad-based opposition. This is exactly what the citizens of Lafayette managed to do.
After one attorney on the city council read HSLDA’s analysis, he indicated that he believed the daytime curfew posed some constitutional problems and would vote against passing the ordinance. That swayed a number of other council members, and the council voted 7-2 against passage. HSLDA can only thank the Lafayette home schoolers for their efforts to oppose the daytime curfew, and give glory God for this victory!
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Louisiana
When the Bonnet Carre Spillway was completed, 6,000 goats were put to work keeping the grass down so that flood waters could flow without resistance.
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