WEST PALM BEACH — A youth organization is suing to strike down the city's downtown curfew, alleging that the law is "unconstitutionally vague."
"The Ordinance violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 5 of the Florida Constitution, which protects the rights of individuals to associate with whom they please and to assemble with others for political or for social purposes," argues the complaint, filed today by the National Youth Rights Association of South Florida and one of its key members, Jeffrey Nadel.
The group has frequently protested the city's curfew, which prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from being in the downtown district without a parent after 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. The curfew zone includes CityPlace.
The suit seeks a permanent injunction blocking the city from enforcing the curfew and alleges that the wording of the law "fails to establish standards to permit police to enforce the Ordinance in a non-arbitrary, non-discriminatory manner."
West Palm Beach officials enacted the curfew in August 2007 in an effort to curtail juvenile crime and crime in general downtown, said Mayor Lois Frankel.
"We have succeeded on both counts with flying colors," she said in defending the curfew. She said there have been fewer juvenile arrests for crimes downtown, fewer juveniles have been the victims of crimes and overall reports of crimes have decreased in the downtown district.
"Our community has embraced the curfew with open arms," she said, adding that in nearly two years police have had to issue only one citation to a teen for repeated violations. Most teens caught in downtown have been issued warnings and asked to leave, she said.
