Youth Curfew Up for Discussion in Manchester This Week

MANCHESTER, CT — The Manchester Board of Directors is scheduled to discuss the concept of a youth curfew at its Tuesday meeting.

The meeting is slated for 7 p.m. at Lincoln Center, 494 Main St.

The discussion is in response to what Minority Leader Cheri Eckbreth said is a 333 percent spike car thefts and burglaries from May into June and a recent arrest involving two teens in a stolen car.

The discussion comes 15 years after a curfew in Vernon was shot down legally. In June 2003, a federal appeals court overturned a Connecticut trial court decision to keep a Vernon curfew in place. It was a case argued by the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut.

The Vernon ordinance prohibited anyone younger than age of 18 from being outdoors after 11 p.m. on school nights or after midnight on weekend nights, with some exceptions. Law enforcement veterans have said the curfew was effective.

Manchester Mayor Jay Moran said he was skeptical whether the curfew would work because of the Vernon precedent and because the 17-year-old was with a 19-year-old during the pursuit and the curfew would apply only to the minor.

He said the car thefts and burglaries are "a dangerous situation" that is a "different story" from a general curfew. He said the curfew was established in Vernon to combat, in part, groups of underage people congregating on the sidewalks in the Rockville section of town.

Photo Credit: MPD

To sign up for free Manchester news alerts and more, click here.