| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/4/2009 3:36:18 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Texas: Keep Calls Coming to Defeat Daytime Curfew Ordinance in Dallas! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 4, 2009 Texas: Keep Calls Coming to Defeat Daytime Curfew Ordinance in Dallas! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Thanks to the persistence of all of you who have called in opposition of this ordinance, and to many Dallas homeschoolers committed to stop this ordinance from coming to fruition, the ordinance was not voted on in the April 22 hearing, but was tabled until May 13. The hearing on May 13 will be the final time to vote on the ordinance. It is imperative that calls be made up until that day to let your council members know that you are against this ordinance! This ordinance is very restrictive, with no exceptions for homeschoolers. If the ordinance is enacted, your children will be fined up to $500 if seen outside in public from 9:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on any weekday. For more information about the Dallas Daytime Curfew Ordinance, please visit the website below created by Dallas homeschool families: http://ditchthedaytimecurfew.com . ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Please call your council member and give him the message below. 2. Please call as many other council members as you can, because the decision they make will affect you. 3. Please attend the hearing on May 13, and sign up to speak out against the curfew. The public hearings will be held in Dallas City Hall (1500 Marilla, Dallas) between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. 4. Please ask all of your friends to call as well, and pass on this e-lert to them. Please tell the Council members the following in your own words: "We do not need a daytime curfew. Curfews are ineffective and harmful to our freedom. Please vote against the proposed daytime curfew." You do not need to identify yourself a homeschooler. Mayor Tom Leppert: Phone: 214-670-4054 Dr. Elba Garcia, Mayor Pro Tem, District 1: Phone: 214-670-4052 Pauline Medrano, District 2: Phone: 214-670-4048 David A. Neumann, District 3: Phone: (214) 670-0776 Dwaine Caraway, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, District 4: Phone: (214) 670-0781 Vonciel Jones Hill, District 5: Phone: (214) 670-0777 Steve Salazar, District 6: Phone: (214) 670-4199 Carolyn R. Davis*, District 7: Phone: (214) 670-4689 Tennell Atkins, District 8: Phone: 214-670-4066 Sheffie Kadane*, District 9: Phone: 214-670-4069 Jerry R. Allen, District 10: Phone: 214-670-4068 Linda Koop, District 11: Phone: 214-670-7817 Ron Natinsky*, District 12: Phone: 214-670-4067 Mitchell Rasansky, District 13: Phone: 214-670-3816 Angela Hunt*, District 14: Phone: (214) 670-5415 *These council members have indicated they are against the ordinance. If you call them, please check if they are still against the curfew, and if so, thank them for their continued opposition. BACKGROUND: Daytime curfews violate a minor's fundamental constitutional right to freedom of movement on the public streets, highways and areas of the city without being subjected to prior governmental restraint--as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Daytime curfews violate the fundamental legal principle of the presumption of innocence. This presumption is protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Daytime curfews result in violations of minors' Fourth Amendment rights to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. A policeman should not stop and question anyone unless there are actual facts that make it reasonable to suspect that a crime has occurred. If a policeman stops and questions a person without such facts, it is a violation of the citizen's rights under the Fourth Amendment. Daytime curfews interfere with the parents' fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, especially for parents with children in small private schools who often work outside the classroom. Daytime curfews are, in essence, beefed-up truancy ordinances. All states have already addressed the area of truancy in a comprehensive way. There is no need for new laws addressing the issue of truancy. The present laws addressing minors simply need to be enforced. Daytime curfews will result in selective enforcement. Since officers will not be stopping every juvenile during school hours to check their ID, they will be selective. This opens up the extremely dangerous potential for unequal treatment of minors based upon race, appearance, dress, etc. This type of ordinance will simply divert attention from real crime prevention programs and interfere with effective police work. There is no evidence that daytime curfews significantly reduce juvenile crime during curfew hours. Statistics demonstrate that there is very little juvenile crime during these hours even when there is no daytime curfew. Additionally, the serious juvenile lawbreaker will not be deterred by the daytime curfew. However, hundreds, if not thousands of innocent minors will suffer the inconvenience of unwarranted stops, detentions and harassment, not to mention the added cost for taxpayers for the enforcement of the curfew. Daytime curfews dangerously train young citizens to accept, as normal, constraints that are inconsistent with the freedom they should be educated to enjoy and use responsibly in their adult years. Daytime curfews send a message to self-disciplined and responsible young people that the community makes no distinction between them and irresponsible adults who abuse freedom in ways detrimental to the community. Daytime curfews will likely result in registration of privately educated students with police departments with the attendant issuance of ID cards and badges. For a legal memorandum on the unconstitutionality of daytime curfews, which can be given to Council members, please see our analysis of this issue at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2102. Sincerely, Christopher J. Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> "I saved my entire membership fee with one discount" "When I called Liberty to find out what kind of discount we could get, they told us we would 10% off our car insurance and 5% off our homeowner's insurance. What we will save is more than double what it costs to join HSLDA. With one child getting his driver's license this year, the savings will be a real blessing!" 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
