State's highest court throws out juvenile curfew in Lowell
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today a curfew on teenagers in Lowell violates the US and Massachusetts constitutions because it imposed potential criminal penalties.
The case involved two teenagers arrested after midnight in 2004 because they were on the street in violation of the city's "Youth Protection Curfew for Minors," which basically required everybody under 18 to be at home after 11 p.m. One was a 16-year-old from Somerville arrested at 12:15 a.m. while "attempting to visit a girl who lived in Lowell;" the other was a teen arrested when police broke up a knot of kids after midnight and he couldn't run as fast as the others, who escaped.
The court agreed communities have a right to try to curb youth violence, but said they need to be mindful of teenagers' rights:
We conclude that the curfew itself is narrowly tailored to achieve its purposes. However, the criminal processes and punishments provided in the ordinance for curfew violations are not the least restrictive means of accomplishing those purposes, and contradict well-established goals of rehabilitating, not incarcerating, juvenile offenders. Consequently, they are not sufficiently tailored to meet the strict scrutiny standard.
