Bellingham Curfew Rejected
OLYMPIA - The state Supreme Court has refused to consider reinstating Bellingham's juvenile-curfew ordinance, which lower courts had declared unconstitutional.
In an order signed by Chief Justice Barbara Durham this week, the high court said it would not hear an appeal of the rulings, leaving intact Superior Court and Court of Appeals rulings, the most recent issued in June 1997.
The Bellingham law, enacted in 1992, barred children 15 years or younger from being in the city's central business district between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The ordinance exempted minors who were accompanied by a parent or guardian, on an emergency errand, working, in a vehicle engaged in interstate travel, within one block of a legal residence, traveling from an activity or authorized by a special permit.
The Appeals Court said the ordinance was overly broad, too vague and interfered with the rights of parents to supervise their own children. Furthermore, it infringed on minors' constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of movement and freedom of expression.
A number of other Washington cities have enacted teen curfews, including Tacoma, Sea-Tac, Normandy Park, Yakima and Marysville.