With juvenile crime on the increase across the nation, many localities arc considering curfews to get teenagers off the streets late at night. Although curfews have often been overturned by the courts, proponents won an important federal appeals court ruling upholding Dallas’s curfew ordinance against an ACLU challenge.
Atlanta, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C., are all considering teen curfews. Hawaii has a statewide law that keeps everyone under 16 indoors after 10 P.M. unless accompanied by a parent, and the Florida Legislature is also considering a statewide curfew. The cities of Tampa and Miami have already enacted curfews, and Orlando may follow suit.