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JANET ZINKThe Florida Supreme Court determines that citywide teen curfews in Tampa and Pinellas Park are unconstitutional.
TAMPA - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that citywide teen curfews in Tampa and Pinellas Park are unconstitutional, upholding a lower court decision from 2002.
The state's high court issued a 91-page ruling calling the Tampa and Pinellas Park ordinances, passed in the late 1990s, too broad. Neither ordinance has been enforced in recent years.
"This will cause a number of communities to rethink their approach to juvenile curfew ordinances," said St. Petersburg attorney Bruce Howie, who represented a minor cited for violating the Pinellas Park ordinance.
The court's decision by a narrow majority said the ordinances did not provide enough exemptions for minors who had good reason to be out after curfew, and said the Tampa ordinance wasn't supported by adequate statistics.
The court called the criminal penalties the "most troubling aspect" of the ordinances.
"Under both the Tampa and the Pinellas Park ordinances, juveniles and parents can be incarcerated and fined after the first curfew violation," the ruling states. "Most of the ordinances that have been upheld as constitutional only impose civil fines or community service requirements."
"We're very happy that they ruled in our favor," said Richard Sanders, assistant public defender in the 10th Judicial Circuit Court, who represented four minors cited under the Tampa ordinance. "We think curfews are probably not a very good idea to handle the types of problems they're attempting to handle. They interfere with parental rights and juvenile rights."
Coincidentally, on the same day, the Tampa City Council gave final approval to a new Ybor City curfew. City officials said they expect the new curfew to withstand any legal challenge because it was crafted with issues raised by the appeals court in mind.
But Tampa city attorney David Smith said he'll take a closer look at the Supreme Court opinion before the ordinance goes into effect, which could be as soon as two weeks.
"If we think there are some issues and some tweaking is necessary we will go back to city council," he said.
Justice Peggy A. Quince wrote the Florida Supreme Court's opinion with Barbara J. Pariente, Harry Lee Anstead and R. Fred Lewis concurring and Justices Raoul G. Cantero III, Kenneth B. Bell and Charles Well dissenting.
The model juvenile curfew ordinance enacted by the Florida Legislature, Quince wrote, imposes a fine of $50 for the second and subsequent violations.
The Supreme Court's decision wasn't a total loss for people who support curfews, said Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist.
"It seems as if the consequence is a civil consequence, the Florida Supreme Court believes it's still appropriate to have a curfew," he said. "Communities will want to impose curfews and they should have that right. There may have to be some moderate changes to facilitate that. It's better than not having a curfew at all."
Crist said he wants to review the ruling more carefully before deciding whether to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the issue.
It was too early Thursday for Pinellas Park officials to decide whether they would try to develop a curfew that would pass court scrutiny, but police Capt. Mike Haworth said his department would like some type of curfew on the books.
"It was a tremendous tool for us," Haworth said.
Last year, BayWalk, a retail and entertainment center in downtown St. Petersburg, instituted a kind of curfew. It is not clear if the policy is still in effect, because BayWalk officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Under the policy, anyone younger than 18 not accompanied by an adult would be asked to leave if they are not attending a movie, patronizing a restaurant or engaging in some wholesome activity.
The new Ybor City curfew was passed unanimously by Tampa City Council Thursday.
It bans anyone younger than 18 from Ybor City between the hours of 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., Thursday through Saturday. Violators would get a trespass warning banishing them for six months from an area bounded by Palm Avenue, Nuccio Parkway, Fifth Avenue and 22nd Street.
Anyone who violates the warning could be arrested.
Business owners who violate the rule and parents who interfere with its enforcement could face fines of as much as $500, 60 days in jail or six months of probation.
The Ybor City ordinance, said Tampa city attorney Smith, seems to meet the Supreme Court's requirements for narrow tailoring because it is confined to a small geographic area, limited days and hours and has crime statistics to back it up. It also has a range of exemptions that includes minors traveling to and from jobs; attending church, school or government-sponsored events; accompanied by their parents or living in the area.
But the criminal penalty may be a sticking point. Smith said he will review the Florida Supreme Court's opinion "with care" and if he thinks there might be a problem with the ordinance, city officials would suspend its application.
"Clearly if we think we have an unconstitutional ordinance, we will not enforce it," he said.
Tampa resident Moses Knott told the City Council he considers the ordinance racist. "Guess who's going to be thrown out at 11 o'clock? Black children," he said.
But City Council member Kevin White, who is black, said the issue transcends race, even though the need for the ordinance came to light because of the popularity of Club Bling, a teen-oriented dance club in Ybor City that attracts mostly black kids.
"This ordinance is not about black and white," White said. "This is about children in our city, and being in the right place at the right time and the wrong place at the right time."