They are Still Children It was after midnight on a warm summer night in the bar and club district of downtown Columbia, and many people were outside on the sidewalks and patios of businesses enjoying the weather and the atmosphere. The pleasant night was disrupted by gunfire, and the groups of people on the sidewalks and patios outside the bars and clubs started to scream and run for cover as the shots rang out. At least one person videoed all this as it was happening, and the video was all over the internet soon after it happened. The city council, as well as the police chief, referred to the video in their remarks about problems with juveniles, especially about juveniles being out late at night for no good reason. The police chief said
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The curfew would not be a mass round-up of young people. It would be an enforcement tool to keep youth as well as adults safe during late night hours. Richard Ward in an FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin discusses the fact that most individuals with the authority to make and influence laws believe that “any law that may decrease the number of juveniles involved in illegal activities and possibly reduce the crimes perpetrated against juveniles would benefit their communities” and is worth examining (Ward). Most curfew ordinances have the purpose and were “created to prevent juvenile delinquency and victimization, as well as maintain parental authority” (Stoddard 179) and this definition and purpose goes more to the Chicago type ordinance. The tantamount purposes for the Columbia curfew would be more like Inglewood’s purpose; to keep children and the public safe and to discourage and prevent juveniles from having the opportunity to commit crimes and mischief. That is exactly what the goal of a juvenile curfew in Columbia should be. The proposed curfew would be similar to the one in the community of Inglewood; anyone under the age of seventeen “after 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends found on the street and unaccompanied by an adult guardian” would be in violation of the city’s juvenile curfew ordinance (Hayes-Bautista 24). Of course, there would be reasonable exceptions to the ordinance (Hayes-Bautista 24). According to Robert McNamara in his book, The Lost Population, “One of the main challenges comes in the form of contesting the infringement on the freedom of minors. However, the courts have consistently upheld the validity of curfews despite the fact that they may create constitution challenges with regard to freedom and due process” (81), but one court refused to uphold a curfew ordinance that did not provide for any exceptions to the law (McNamara 81). In a
The curfew would not be a mass round-up of young people. It would be an enforcement tool to keep youth as well as adults safe during late night hours. Richard Ward in an FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin discusses the fact that most individuals with the authority to make and influence laws believe that “any law that may decrease the number of juveniles involved in illegal activities and possibly reduce the crimes perpetrated against juveniles would benefit their communities” and is worth examining (Ward). Most curfew ordinances have the purpose and were “created to prevent juvenile delinquency and victimization, as well as maintain parental authority” (Stoddard 179) and this definition and purpose goes more to the Chicago type ordinance. The tantamount purposes for the Columbia curfew would be more like Inglewood’s purpose; to keep children and the public safe and to discourage and prevent juveniles from having the opportunity to commit crimes and mischief. That is exactly what the goal of a juvenile curfew in Columbia should be. The proposed curfew would be similar to the one in the community of Inglewood; anyone under the age of seventeen “after 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends found on the street and unaccompanied by an adult guardian” would be in violation of the city’s juvenile curfew ordinance (Hayes-Bautista 24). Of course, there would be reasonable exceptions to the ordinance (Hayes-Bautista 24). According to Robert McNamara in his book, The Lost Population, “One of the main challenges comes in the form of contesting the infringement on the freedom of minors. However, the courts have consistently upheld the validity of curfews despite the fact that they may create constitution challenges with regard to freedom and due process” (81), but one court refused to uphold a curfew ordinance that did not provide for any exceptions to the law (McNamara 81). In a