05/29/2008

Associated Press

City officials are considering a curfew ordinance that would fine both teenagers and their parents for repeated violations.

The Plymouth Common Council is working on a measure that would fine youths $10 for the first violation and $25 for their second. Parents would be fined $50 if their child had a third violation.

"This is clearly intended as a parental responsibility measure," the ordinance reads.

The curfew would ban children younger than 15 from public places from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily in the city about 25 miles south of South Bend. Those ages 15 through 17 would not be allowed in public after 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Exceptions would be made for children accompanied by a parent and for teens going to work, a school activity or a religious event.

The proposal is a bit more strict than the state's curfew law, which permits older teens to be out until 1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday and allows younger children to be out until 11 p.m.

Constitutional challenges have taken the state's curfew law on and off the books several times since 2000. The state later amended the law to include protections for youngsters' First Amendment rights, and civil rights groups said they would no longer challenge the measure.

After the state law was proved valid, several Indiana cities have considered imposing even earlier curfews with local ordinances.

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Information from: South Bend Tribune, http://www.southbendtribune.com