Youth-Led Civil Rights Group Sues to Overturn West Palm Beach Teen Curfew
Media Contacts:
Alex Koroknay-Palicz (Executive Director)
Phone: (301) 738-6769
Email: [email protected]
Jeffrey Nadel (President, National Youth Rights
Association of Southeast Florida, Inc.)
National Youth Rights Association
Phone: (561) 699-3866
Email: [email protected]
West Palm Beach, Florida - June 23, 2009: This afternoon, the Southeast Florida chapter of the National Youth Rights Association ("NYRA-SEFL") and two of its officers sued the city of West Palm Beach, arguing that its two year old curfew is unconstitutional. This suit comes just over two weeks after the Rochester, NY curfew was struck down by the New York Supreme Court.
"There is no doubt that we will see this through to the end. We will continue to work against this oppressive and illegally-enforced ordinance until justice prevails and it is repealed," said Jeffrey Nadel, 16, NYRA-SEFL's President.
West Palm Beach enacted its teen curfew in 2007, two years after Tampa's teen curfew was struck down by the Florida Supreme Court. The statute prohibits youth under age 18 from being out after 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends. NYRA-SEFL believes that this statute is overly vague and unconstitutionally enforced. For example, while the ordinance explicitly states that any activity protected by the First Amendment does not constitute a violation, NYRA-SEFL discovered that the City has issued more than 680 written warnings to teens whose activities were protected by the First Amendment. The organization worked with the city council over several months to persuade the city to drop the curfew law, but after no progress was made the chapter had no choice but to go to court.
"This is the first curfew lawsuit ever filed by a youth-led, youth civil rights organization," said NYRA Executive Director, Alex Koroknay-Palicz.
Across America, curfews are being challenged and overturned. Earlier this month, on June 9, 2009, New York’s highest court struck down
Rochester’s youth curfew, finding that the city had failed to show a substantial link “between the burdens imposed by this curfew and the
goals of protecting minors and preventing juvenile crime[.]” The Court also found that the statute “fails to offer parents enough
flexibility or autonomy in supervising their children[.]”
To date no study has shown youth curfew laws to be effective at reducing juvenile crime or victimization.
About NYRA:
The National Youth Rights Association, Inc. is a national, youth-led organization whose mission is to promote awareness of the legal and civil rights of young people in the United States. NYRA is based in Washington, DC and was founded in 1998. NYRA has nearly 10,000 members and has been featured on CNN, Fox News, PBS, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and numerous other publications.
About NYRA of Southeast Florida:
The National Youth Rights Association of Southeast Florida is a chapter of the National Youth Rights Association, led by a 6-member, all-youth Board of Directors has grown to its current size of over 200 members. Recently, NYRA-SEFL has been featured in the Boca News, USA Today, Sun Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Boca Magazine, on ABC Local News, WPBF, WPTV, WYOU, WPLG, CBS-12, PBS, and NPR.
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