NJ suburban town police out on a "Friday night sweep"arrest 10 teenagers not for any acts they committed, but simply for being outdoors after the 10pm curfew.
The city's curfew ordinance states that it is unlawful for anyone under 18 to be in any public place between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., with limited exceptions.
It adds that it is also unlawful for parents or guardians to knowingly or by inefficient control allow their children to be in public places during the prohibited hours.
Millville, NJ is hardly alone. since the 1990s at least 500 cities and towns have imposed curfews as a "preventive deterrent" to juvenile crime, despite their questionable constitutionality and dubious effectiveness. Yet the practice continues to expand, with increasingly onerous requirements and punitive enforcement.
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