Curfew Crackdown Coming In Newark For Youth Under 18 (UPDATED)

NEWARK, NJ — Editor's Note: The curfew has been postponed. Read our update to this article here.

In Newark, you can vote in school elections if you’re 16 or 17 – but you can’t be out on the streets past 11 p.m.

On Tuesday, authorities announced that Newark will be cracking down on juveniles who violate the city’s nighttime youth curfew law. The crackdown – which is based on a local ordinance that has been in place for years – will begin on Friday, April 12.

Under Newark’s law, “unaccompanied minors” who are 17-years-old and under cannot be more than 100 yards from their home between 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. There are some exceptions, such as jobs, “emergency errands” and extracurricular school activities (see details below).

The city’s latest crackdown comes just a few months after 16 and 17-year-olds in Newark earned the right to vote in local school elections, a move that many advocates cheered. See Related: Newark First In NJ To Lower Voting Age To 16 For School Elections

“We want the children of our city to enjoy the outdoors safely by limiting the opportunity for them to find themselves in harm’s way,” Mayor Ras Baraka said, explaining the reason for the latest crackdown.

“The safest place for children at night is under the mindful supervision of their parents or another trusted adult, not on the streets,” Baraka added. “This initiative is aimed at ensuring Newark children are kept safe.”

Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé said the overnight hours are particularly hazardous for children because fewer adult family members and neighbors are outdoors late at night to monitor their safety.

“While we are implementing increased police presence in all our neighborhoods, we respectfully request that parents and guardians abide by the juvenile curfew ordinance to add an extra layer of safety for their children,” Fragé said.

It’s no secret that Newark has a curfew for people under the age of 18. The ordinance dates back to 1943, when World War II-era families commonly had unsupervised children due to the war. Since then, it’s been technically illegal for people under the age of 18 to be more than 100 yards from their homes between 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.

The city has launched curfew crackdowns in the past, including campaigns launched during the summer and around holidays such as Halloween.

Newark isn't the only Essex County municipality to have youth curfew laws on the books. Other towns with youth curfew laws include Cedar Grove, East Orange and Irvington. See related article: Kids Out Late: Do You Support A Youth Curfew?

Proponents of youth curfew laws say that the ordinances can help to reduce juvenile violence, gang activity and other types of crime.

But administrators with several North Jersey municipalities have begun to back away from the use of curfew laws, stating that such ordinances might be “constitutionally flawed.”

In 2001, a NJ Superior Court judge struck down West Orange’s youth curfew law when it came under fire from the local ACLU.

“It makes no sense to criminalize the innocent activities of numerous good kids, the proper response to juvenile crime is to arrest the criminals, not to place all law-abiding young people under house arrest,” stated J.C. Salyer, Staff Attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey in response to the ruling.

“The police already have the ability to arrest juveniles when they break the law,” Salver added. “The curfew would have added nothing except giving police the right to arrest the innocent as well.”

YOUTH CURFEW IN NEWARK: THE DETAILS

THE ORDINANCE –Newark City Ordinance, 20:2-4.1 states: It shall be unlawful for any minor under the age of eighteen (18) to loiter, idle, wander, stroll or play in, or remain in or be upon the public streets, highways, roads, public places and public buildings, places of amusement and entertainment, public transportation facility, public vehicles used for transportation, vacant lots or other public places within the confines of the City or to be more than one hundred (100) yards from his or her place of residence between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. of the following day. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any minor accompanied by his or her parent, guardian, or other adult person having care or custody of the minor, or where the minor is upon an emergency errand directed by his or her parent or guardian, or other adult person having care or custody of the minor. An emergency errand shall be an errand required to preserve the life of a person.

The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any juvenile engaged in or traveling to or from a business or occupation which the laws of this State authorize a juvenile to perform or to a juvenile who is attending extracurricular school activities, activities sponsored by religious or community-based organizations and other cultural educational and social events that may occur after 11 p.m. and before 5:30 a.m.

THE PENALTY – Any minor under eighteen (18) years of age found in violation of this ordinance by a Police Officer shall be given a verbal warning and will be escorted to his or her residence and released to the care of his or her parent or guardian. A second infraction within a six (6) month period will result in the juvenile being transported to the Newark Police Youth Strategies Section at 43 Dickerson Street to be picked up by a parent or guardian. The juvenile will also be referred to the on-call staff member of the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery to assess his or her needs for services and/or resources. While no juvenile will be arrested for a curfew violation, the juvenile’s parent(s) or guardian(s) will be referred to the New Jersey Department of Children and Families Office of Child Protection and Permanency as a result of repeated violations.

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