Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511200044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CLIFTON FORGE LENGTH: Short
The curfew adopted Friday night is designed to crack down on juvenile crime. It will make it illegal for people under the age of 18 to roam the streets at night. The ordinance is scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1 and expire Nov. 30, 1996.
On Fridays and Saturdays, the curfew will run from midnight to 6 a.m. On other nights, those under 18 must be home by 11 p.m.
Violators will be subject to a $500 fine.
Other localities with curfews include Roanoke, Lexington, Danville, Richmond and Hampton.
The Clifton Forge ordinance says City Council ``has determined that there has been an increase in juvenile violence, juvenile gang activity and crime by persons under the age of 18.'' Police Chief Barry Balser favors the ordinance.
The city drafted the ordinance after complaints from residents who claimed youths were taking over their neighborhood late at night, making then unsafe.
Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Richmond office, said courts have issued mixed rulings on curfews.
``There's no consensus of opinion on these things, and if localities continue to adopt these curfews, it's going to land in the lap of the U.S. Supreme Court in the next couple of years,'' Willis said.
``Most of the teen curfews in Virginia date back to the 1950s, but they were seldom enforced,'' he said. ``In the past three years, these curfews have become very popular again and many cities and towns have begun to revisit them.''
by CNB