House Bill 1130: Enactment of Daytime Curfews (Illinois)

[QuilterMom]

http://www.hslda.org/Legislation/Sta...30/default.asp

House Bill 1130: Enactment of Daytime Curfews


Author:
Representative Dave Winters


Summary:
This bill specifically encourages municipal governments to establish daytime curfews "to help combat truancy in the public schools."


If passed, this bill will greatly increase the likelihood of your children having less freedom to be outside during traditional school hours. In order to enforce a daytime curfew police officers have to stop and question all children in public. You would have to be careful sending your 17 year-old daughter to pick up some groceries or letting your 16 year-old son go to music lessons across town.


Status:
02/08/2005 Filed
02/10/2005 Assigned to Local Government Committee


HSLDA's Position:
HSLDA is opposed to this bill.


Action Requested:
1) Please call all the House Local Government Committee members listed below and give them this message:


"Please oppose House Bill 1130. Enacting a daytime curfew assumes that a child is guilty until proven innocent and those with a legal excuse to be in public during school hours are not protected from being questioned, detained, or held in custody until their innocence is proven. Studies show that daytime curfews do not prevent juvenile crime."


You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler.


House Local Government Committee:


Chairman
Rep. Harry Osterman
Phone: (217) 782-8088


Vice-Chair
Rep. Robert Flider
Phone: (217) 782-8398


Rep. Daniel Beiser
Phone: (217) 782-5996


Rep. Robin Kelly
Phone: (217) 558-1007


Rep. Sidney Mathias
Phone: (217) 782-1664


Rep. Donald Moffitt
Phone: (217) 782-8032


Rep. Kathleen Ryg
Phone: (217) 782-0499


Rep. Keith Sommer
Phone: (217) 782-0221


Rep. Michael Tryon
Phone: (217) 782-0432


Rep. Jim Watson
Phone: (217) 782-1840


Rep. Wyvetter Younge
Phone: (217) 782-5951


Background:
- Daytime curfews violate a minor's fundamental constitutional right to freedom of movement as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment on the public streets, highways and areas of the city without being subjected to prior governmental restraint.


- Daytime curfews violate the fundamental legal principle of the presumption of innocence. This presumption is protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution.


- Daytime curfews result in violations of the minors' Fourth Amendment rights to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. A policeman should not stop and question anyone unless there are actual facts that make it reasonable to suspect that a crime has occurred. If a policeman stops and questions a person without such facts, it is a violation of the citizen's rights under the Fourth Amendment.


- Daytime curfews interfere with the parents' fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, especially for parents with children in small private schools who often work outside the classroom.


- Daytime curfews are, in essence, beefed-up truancy ordinances. All states have already addressed the area of truancy in a comprehensive way. There is no need for new laws addressing the issue of truancy. The present laws addressing minors simply need to be enforced.


- Daytime curfews will result in selective enforcement. Since officers will not be stopping every juvenile during school hours to check their ID, they will be selective. This opens up the extremely dangerous potential for unequal treatment of minors based upon race, appearance, dress, etc. This type of ordinance will simply divert attention from real crime prevention programs and interfere with effective police work.


- There is no evidence that daytime curfews significantly reduce juvenile crime during curfew hours. Statistics demonstrate that there is very little juvenile crime during these hours even when there is no daytime curfew. Additionally, the serious juvenile law-breaker will not be deterred by the daytime curfew. However, hundreds, if not thousands of innocent minors will suffer the inconvenience of unwarranted stops, detentions and harassment, not to mention the added cost for taxpayers for the enforcement of the curfew.


- Daytime curfews train young citizens to accept, as normal, constraints that are inconsistent with the freedom they should be educated to enjoy and use responsibly in their adult years.


- Daytime curfews send a message to self-disciplined and responsible young people that the community makes no distinction between them and irresponsible adults who abuse freedom in ways detrimental to the community.


- Daytime curfews will likely result in registration of privately educated students with police departments with the attendant issuance of ID cards and badges.


For more information on daytime curfews, please see our analysis of this issue at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2102

[homesteadmamma]

Thanks Kim, just another thing to have to be concerned about. Although I don't agree with truancy from school, this won't work!! It will also affect homeschoolers greatly.