NCJ Number
159044
Date Published
Unknown
Length
43 pages
Annotation
This paper documents and places in historical perspective the use of municipal juvenile curfew ordinances in 200 U.S. cities with 1992 populations over 100,000.
Abstract
As the parens patriae philosophy of individualized juvenile justice has been modified by the just deserts model, crime control measures have become a more common feature of the juvenile justice system. Although the justification for curfew ordinances in the 1990's is the same as it has always been, juvenile delinquency prevention, the current debate focuses on reducing victimization. Unlike curfews of the past, most curfews enacted in the 1990's directly respond to gun violence perpetrated by and upon urban teenagers. Additionally, the debate about curfews is occurring in a changed legal, social, and political context. In particular, the new legal environment requires cities to justify curfews and police departments must enforce them under much closer judicial scrutiny. Public opinion surveys indicate overwhelming citizen support for municipal juvenile curfew ordinances. The survey of 200 U.S. cities revealed major surges in the adoption of curfews during the 1970's and the first half of the 1990's. Between 1990 and 1995, 53 cities (27 percent) enacted a new juvenile curfew ordinance and another 37 cities (19 percent) revised a pre-1990 curfew ordinance. Curfews are now found in 146 (73 percent) of the 200 largest cities in the United States. 29 references and 3 tables