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Obituaries

Proposed Curfew Law Gets Teens Talking (VIDEO)

Maryland teenagers have expressed mixed feelings about curfew laws. The topic is one of much debate as Montgomery County legislators decide whether or not to pass a county ordinance for those under the age of 18.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, more than 100 impassioned residents of Montgomery County packed the to have a say in what’s becoming a region-wide debate over curfew laws. 

"Time and again, curfews have been proven ineffective at addressing the myriad social ills that cause juvenile delinquency," said Alan Xie, the student member of the county's Board of Education.

Meanwhile, the county’s police chief countered Xie’s point.

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“A curfew law may not be a panacea, but it would be a valuable law enforcement tool," Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said.

Filed by Montgomery on July 12, the proposed curfew ordinance would bar unsupervised minors under 18 from public areas after 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends.

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The proposed legislation, which has yet to be voted on, has since sparked an intense discourse on the topic across the state. While some parents and teenagers are lauding the proposal, alleging it will better protect community members against youth violence, some argue that it conflicts with a teen’s sense of freedom.

In fact, according to The Sentinal, the ordinance's youth opponent Xie planned to protest against the proposal for Friday night in downtown Silver Spring outside The Majestic theaters. 

“I don’t think it’s fair honestly, because teenagers should be able to do what they want,” said Aspen Humburg, 13, of Laurel.

Julia, 14, of Ellicott City, who declined to give her last name, argued that setting a curfew shouldn’t be up to a county government to decide.

“I really don’t agree with it because I think it should be a personal choice for teenagers and their parents to discuss,” she said. “If the parents feel that it’s okay for them, they know where they’re going to be … then that should be their decision.”

But 13-year-old Asia Allen of Prince George’s County expressed a more nuanced opinion.

“I’m kind of in favor of it, I’m kind of not. A lot of things happen at night that are not safe,” Allen said. “But it depends on the situation.”

According to a interview with Leggett, the proposed curfew is meant to deal with long-standing challenges with area crime and unemployment.

The measure was filed on the heels of a gang fight in downtown Silver Spring that involved more than 80 people, many of them gang members.

According to The Washington Post, the incident occurred the evening of July 1, when dozens of members from two opposing gangs met for a “flash-mob fight” in the heart of Silver Spring’s downtown area. The fight, which resulted in a stabbing, took more than 40 officers to subdue.

According to the Post story, police officials argued that if a curfew had been in place, the fight would not have gotten so out of control.

“How can you argue against [the proposal]?” said Debra Munk, principal of Montgomery County’s Rockville High School. “It’s hard to say it’s a bad thing for teenagers to be home late at night. Being a parent I had curfews for my children. You want your teenagers to be safe. My father used to say, ‘Nothing good happens after midnight.’”

However, like many adults and teenagers who have publicly spoken on the topic, Munk expressed some concerns on the proposed law, especially about its enforcement.

“I think the devil is in the details,” Munk said. “The county police are already stretched.”

Questions not only have been raised about ordinance enforcement, but also about the definition of “public areas.” 

Montgomery County is not the only county in the state to have considered such legislation.

Howard and Baltimore counties do not have such laws on the books, nor are those officials considering such curfews. Prince George’s County passed a curfew ordinance in 1995, while enforcement began in the summer of 1996. 

According to Cpl. Henry Tippett, spokesperson for the Prince George’s County Police Department, the ordinance replaced a 1967 law that permitted police to disperse loitering youth during curfew hours, but included no penalties.

The newer curfew ordinance requires those younger than 17 to be off the streets and out of other public areas from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weeknights and from midnight to 5 a.m. on weekends. Under the ordinance, youth violating the law are not arrested but are taken into custody until a parent can pick them up.

In addition, the law set a schedule of fines for violations of the curfew; parents of teens who violate the curfew law are fined $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense and $250 for subsequent offenses. Owners of public establishments are fined up to $500 for (knowingly) allowing a juvenile to be in their establishment or on the premises during curfew hours.

Tippett could not say statistically how effective the curfew law has been.

“Juvenile curfew violations are not a category of crime that the department keeps statistics on. In most instances, if the curfew violation is not associated with a crime, the juvenile is only issued a warning and returned to his or her home or guardian,” he said.

Tippett said there is anecdotal evidence that the law has been effective at managing crime.

“It gives us authority to send them home or take them home. It also keeps them away from older adults who may be involved in more serious criminal activity,” Tippett said. “Before the law passed, we could only tell them to disperse if there was a crowd of juveniles hanging at a convenient store or something. Now we can tell them to go home or transport them home or notify parent or guardian or have them come pick them up. … It’s definitely a deterrent.”

He added that he’d be in favor of Montgomery County passing its own ordinance.

“I think most parents would encourage the legislation,” Tippett said. “Most responsible parents I think would want to know where their children are most of the time.”

He added that since Montgomery County is a bordering jurisdiction, the proposed ordinance “just kind of helps the flow of one county to the next.”

But like many of the teenagers interviewed for this report, adults seem to have mixed reactions to the idea of curfew laws.

“I think it's an OK idea, maybe not city or county-wide, but maybe at the town centers where you get a mix of kids hanging out,” stated Christina Shapiro, a mother from Reisterstown who blogs on for Patch.

But the proposed law is certainly drawing its share of ire from teenagers within Montgomery County and around Maryland.

Prior to the hearing, an opposition Facebook page had been set up by teenagers hoping to gain support from their peers against the ordinance. At the moment, the page has nearly 6,500 followers. 

Those teenagers interviewed for this report expressed anger over a lost sense of freedom.

 “I think I wouldn’t like it if we were watching a movie at a friend’s house, and the movie went past 12, if we had to walk back and we got caught. … That isn’t right,” said 12-year-old Mark Bailey of Laurel.

His sister had similar thoughts.

“If you are allowed to drive, you shouldn’t have a curfew,” Rachel Bailey said.

Laura Smith of Ellicott City added, “For people who do want to go out, it’s not fair.”

Yet the law does have its young supporters.

In an on the topic, Katerra Jones, a recent Montgomery County high school graduate, argued wholeheartedly for the curfew law.

“If the County Council can pass a bill that would make sure minors are home by a certain time, this could greatly decrease the number of minors participating in illegal activity,” Jones wrote. “This county knows all too well that teens driving behind the wheel after they were drinking can be a deadly situation.”

Christine Ridgley, 19, of Howard County said she would support such a law, also for safety reasons.

 “A lot of these kids go out partying,” Ridgley said. “A lot of the crime rates are really hitting here. It’s getting out of control. People cut through our yards and stuff, it’s ridiculous. … In Howard County maybe they could take control of the county a bit.”

Rosalie Tedeschi, 19, of Howard County agreed.

“I don’t feel safe going out at night, especially after midnight,” Tedeschi said.

But either way opinion swings, Montgomery County residents will have some time to wait before a decision on the matter.

According to Montgomery County spokesperson Lucille Baur, a work session has been scheduled for Sept. 15. She added that a vote on the ordinance wouldn’t happen until September or October.            

“The council will continue to work with the county executive, the police department and citizen input,” Baur said. “They’ll better formulate whether or not they want to continue with a curfew proposal or try to come up with another measure to address the county executive’s and the police department’s concerns about safety of the community at large.”

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