Proposed Dallas daytime curfew - who are you kidding?

by Trey Garrison of Trey Garrison

I’ve mentioned the proposed Dallas daytime curfew for those under 18 during school hours. Even though police already have the power to take truants into custody, this new curfew would criminalize them and — big surprise here — slap a $500 fine on parents. I’m sure it has nothing to do with Dallas’ budget crisis. Anyway, here’s more on the issue from the Citizens Against a Daytime Curfew. Take it away, Laurel Allen.

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Is the proposed daytime curfew necessary?

According to the Texas Education Code, police are already fully empowered to take any child seen in public during school hours into custody in order to determine if they are a juvenile in need of supervision, or if there is probable cause that they are in violation of the compulsory school attendance law under Section 25 of the code. In the process of making that determination, they have the ability to intervene in a manner that requires the involvement of the child’s parent or guardian, the courts or juvenile board, and the school district.

Under the proposed Dallas daytime curfew, a child may be issued a class C misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 merely for being outside during the hours of 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. when school is in session. Parents or guardians may also be cited if their child is in violation of the curfew. In addition, the owner, operator, or any employee of an establishment may be fined if he permits a minor to remain upon the premises of the establishment during curfew hours.

There are no exceptions; rather, there are “defenses to prosecution.” For example, it is a defense to prosecution if a youth is going to or returning from a school-approved work study program, but only without any detour or stop. Translated, this means that your 16 year old may go to and from his work study program, but he stops at a convenience store during curfew hours for a snack on his way to his work study program, you, your child, and the convenience store employee that rings up his purchase are all breaking the curfew and could each be issued a class C misdemeanor with a fine of $500.

To quote Michael Tate, Commentator for KERA, “The notion of a daytime curfew just doesn’t make good sense. It misplaces responsibility and doesn’t address any of the underlying problems that cause a teenager to bail out of their education. Nor does it stop a kid from being a criminal, because it criminalizes them before they’ve committed a real crime.”

Contact Mayor Leppert and your city council person and ask them to vote AGAINST the daytime curfew. The final public hearing is on May 13 at Dallas City Hall, after which the Dallas City Council will cast its vote.

Stop Crime, NOT Freedom!

Laurel McConkey Allen - Citizens Against the Dallas Daytime curfew

Pegasus News content partner - Trey Garrison

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Anonymous

Pavel Lishin says:

Hey, that's pretty awesome. I guess if we're going to raise our kids to be criminals, treating them as such is probably an excellent first step.