Do curfew laws keep teens out of trouble?
“The 360” shows you diverse perspectives on the day’s top stories and debates.
What’s happening
In various areas around the country, teen curfew laws are on the books.
Teen and juvenile curfews restrict youth below a certain age — usually 16 or 18 — from public places during late night hours. Such curfews arose in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when many American towns established them in response to crime or vandalism committed by young people wandering the streets late at night. They differ from emergency curfews, such as the ones put into place in cities around the country in response to 2020’s civil unrest following the killing of George Floyd, which are used in an attempt to keep large groups of protesters from gathering in the streets.
Currently, more than 400 states, counties, cities and towns have curfews making it “illegal for young people to be outside of their homes at certain times of the day,” according to the National Youth Rights Association. And more are being added, tweaked or expanded.
Georgia: Teen curfew laws for those 16 and under have been on the books in various metropolitan areas of Atlanta since 2013. Recently the Atlanta City Council proposed tightening the restrictions, having the curfew start at 10 p.m. instead of the current midnight and also possibly replacing a $1,000 parent fine with a mandatory mentorship program for violators. The move was prompted by the shooting death of 16-year-old Bre’Asia Powell after a graduation party, Council Member Antonio Lewis told the local press.
Jersey Shore, N.J.: 32 towns have newly instituted laws to curb “pop-up parties.”
Baltimore: Mayor Brandon Scott said the city’s surge in teen gun violence prompted a curfew mandate that went into effect Memorial Day weekend.
Chicago: Authorities have announced they will enforce a curfew for minors at Millennium Park after gatherings of youth turned violent.
Philadelphia: A teen curfew has been in effect since 1955, but people are questioning the usefulness of the law following a double shooting at a large gathering of teens in a public park in late June.
Texas: The state has bucked the curfew trend altogether, with Gov. Greg Abbott signing a bill, with broad bipartisan and parental-rights support, banning juvenile curfews in the state this year.
Why there’s debate
Teen curfews are popular with policymakers, but “evidence suggests that juvenile curfews do not reduce crime or victimization,” according to a systematic review of 12 studies on the effectiveness of such curfews.
“Policymakers like to pass these because they’re popular in the sense of people think they make sense and, from the politician’s standpoint, it doesn’t cost them a dime ... you just pass it,” says David Wilson, a co-author of the review and a professor of criminology at George Mason University. “They like them because the public seems to like them, though I can’t necessarily explain why.”
In Philadelphia, for example, crime stats from July 2022, when the city’s updated curfew was in effect, show that most violent crimes did not decrease compared to the same month the previous year. In fact, robberies with a gun went up 72%, while other types of robberies increased by 40%, and auto thefts rose by 29%.
What’s difficult to pin down, Wilson says, is why such curfews do not seem to be effective in reducing crime. Still, there are theories.
“One,” he explains, “is just that not much juvenile crime or juvenile victimization actually occurs during those [late] hours. Most crime occurs after school or late-afternoon and evening hours.”
Another issue with these laws, he tells Yahoo Life, is “there’s a presumption that if youth are out during these hours, they’re probably up to no good. Are some up to no good? Yes. Are the curfews liable to have an effect on those youth? Probably no. Usually the youth who aren’t out there breaking the laws are the ones who obey the curfew.”
An additional layer, says Wilson, is that such curfews are not well enforced — and that it’s often for good reasons, such as that it’s time-consuming for police officers, whose efforts are often better directed elsewhere, as the law often forces them to take the offending youth to the police station and wait with them for a parent to arrive. “So instead of being out on the street, they’re sitting there doing this,” he says.
Plus, enforcing a curfew requires a “high degree of discretion,” often leading to more enforcement “on persons of color, even if it’s just through implicit biases, such as if they ask themselves, ‘Who does my gut tell me shouldn’t be out here?’”
Further, notes the National Youth Rights Association, “juvenile curfews are a violation of young people’s fundamental rights,” with many having been struck down after being ruled unconstitutional.
Perspectives
Teen curfews are based on the debunked ‘super-predator’ theory
“Though juvenile curfew laws have existed for more than 100 years, their use soared in the mid-1990s at the urging of the Clinton administration. The ‘tough-on-juvenile crime’ stance was a product of Princeton Professor John DiIulio’s ‘super-predator’ theory, which purported to find ‘evidence that juveniles are doing homicidal violence in wolf packs.’ ... It turned out the super-predator theory was terribly wrong. ... DiIulio himself attempted to walk back his theory regarding the super-predator scare.” — Ivonne Roman, the Marshall Project
They sound good but don’t seem to have any impact on crime
“While it may sound like a common sense idea to get kids home and off the streets at night, researchers say that there is no evidence that curfews reduce crime. And community leaders worry that increasing police contact with teens from disadvantaged communities, especially Black teens, could lead to more arrests — and more kids being roped into the criminal justice system for minor infractions.” — Josiah Bates, Time
Teen curfews unfairly criminalize youth
“Young people who are out late or may not be in school during the day may need special services, resources, or simple guidance. Others may work late-night jobs to provide for themselves or their family. Some are homeless. None should be saddled with tickets, court time, or a criminal record. ... Research shows this type of justice system contact is harmful for youth, making it less likely they will succeed in school and more likely that they will have future court and police interactions. Curfew ordinances often disproportionately affect youth of color with more stops and citations as well as homeschool students. Homeschool students may be finished with school early, start school later, or have different days off than other students.” — Texas Appleseed
Teen curfews are a ‘common-sense approach’ to public safety
“[A teen curfew proposal in the D.C. area is] neither a draconian infringement of teen rights nor a miraculous cure-all to juvenile crime. It is merely a common-sense approach that police believe would be a useful tool in protecting public safety. It is far less problematic than the anti-loitering legislation that has been suggested as an alternative. If approved, it would help safeguard youths. ... [It] is not onerous. It restricts young people from gathering and remaining in public places during the affected hours. ... Even those who are in violation are not likely to be arrested, only instructed to go home — which, quite frankly, is where someone under the age of 18 should be at 11 p.m. on a school night.” — Editorial, Washington Post
Such curfews protect teens from crime too
“In addition to preventing crime, curfews keep teens safe from violence. We often think of curfews as a crime prevention measure, but their purpose is just as much for the safety of teens. Young people who stay out too late are at an elevated risk of becoming victims of violent crime and deadly accidents.” — Upfront
