Editorial

As almost every American knows, the first amendment to the constitution provides for "the right of the people peaceably to assemble." Recently, a law was passed here in Fort Wayne that violates that constitutional right.

The new curfew law states that anyone age eighteen or under is not allowed out of their homes past eleven o'clock on school nights and one o'clock on weekends without being accompanied by parents or someone who is over eighteen. If you are unfortunate enough to be caught out, you can expect to stay overnight in the Sol Wood Detention Cener.

This law is ridiculous, although the theory behind it can be somewhat substantiated. The thinking behind the curfew is that if teenagers can be kept off the streets late at night, there will be less teenage vandalism.

Several things are wrong with this reasoning. First of all, teenage vandals are breaking the law through their vandalism. If they are so determined to cause trouble as to risk jail terms or fines, they are not going to mind risking a brief stay in a detention center; it is just adding insult to injury if they are caught vandalizing after hours (or just insult if they are caught out but not vandalizing).

The second problem is the fact that the reason teenage vandalism is so costly and wide-spread is that it is very seldom that the criminal is caught. If the police cannot catch them when they are running all over the place, what makes them think they will catch the theoretically fewer vandals running about now?

Many people that have been out running about after curfew, but few if any, have been caught. This brings about the third argument: it is a very hard law to enforce. The fact is, you can go all over the place without getting caught. This makes the law bearable, but it is there, nonetheless. It is an insult to our right to assemble, a farce.

Most kids' parents will not allow them out past the curfew time, law or not. That is the way it was and the way it is. There is not really any place for kids to go at that time of night anyway, unless it happens to be another liberally-minded parent's house. But none of this can change the fact that our liberties are being infringed upon. The curfew has no place in a Democratic society during a time of peace.

--Rick Hines