When you hear politicians and police talking about getting tough on "juvenile crime," you may imagine a school shooting, like those that have recently occurred in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Springfield Oregon. Others may recall TV clips of young people, sometimes covered by masks or paper bags to hide their identities, being dragged away in handcuffs, as the television speaks of chargers ranging from rape to robbery. But in America today, more kids are arrested for curfew law violations then any other single category of crime, including all violent crimes-combined. Everyone from law enforcement to the President have endorsed tougher curfew laws as being the solution to America's crime woes, though none have ever cited real data to p

The Conference of Mayors conducted a survey of 347 cities with a population over 30,000. Nearly 80 percent of the surveyed cities have a nighttime youth curfew, and 26 percent of these cities also have a daytime curfew. Nine out of ten of the cities said that enforcing the youth curfew was a productive use of a police officer's time. Many said curfews give police time to focus on older criminals.

It is difficult to imagine a more blatant violation of Constitutional rights than the curfew laws which restrict the movements of teens nationwide. The Supreme Court has refused to hear cases questioning such laws, such as the Washington State Supreme Court's 1973 ruling which stated that "mere sauntering or loitering on a public way is lawful and the right of any man, woman, or child." T

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