Curfews in American cities are increasing daily. Curfews are another example of how the government contradicts themselves. A curfew on the youth of America is ineffective and unconstitutional. Curfew laws are a terrible way to prevent crime and is draining on police resources. In defense of the government, Officer Tom Dwyer a sergeant in the Sacramento police department says, "It is an effective crime prevention tool." But if in fact curfews are effective crime fighting tools why then are they not in place on all age groups. The only logical conclusion I can draw from this type of deliberate prejudice is that it is only minors who commit crimes. Which is obviously not true. Curfew laws are not based on any acceptable law enforcement technique but instead they unjustly single out a particular age group because of a stereotype against children. These laws are also unconstitutional. The 14th amendment reads, "All persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law, which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens in the United States. Nor shall any state deprive a person of life liberty or the pursuit of happiness. Nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the laws." This clearly means that any one born in the USA is a and is entitled to all rights shared by other citizens, nowhere in there does it say that people under 18 should have less rights than those written in the constitution. Now lets take a look at the 1st amendment “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Putting the 14th amendment and the 1st amendment together you can come to the conclusion that curfews are unconstitutional. Curfew laws are reminiscent of these dark days in our country, days that were filled with hate and injustice. But young adults in America can fight back. If you are ticketed you have a right to have a trail and you can present him/her with the information above to prove that these laws are unconstitutional. As a backup plan you can wear stickers obtained at theses locations:
While wearing these stickers you are technically consider a protesting citizens which entitles you to more rights one of which is to peacefully assemble and if a cop tickets you, you have two right violations to tell the judge about.
Parents and the government always complain when young adults get in car wreaks. They say if the driving limit was raised this child would not have been hurt or killed. Comparing youth with people starting to learn how to drive is a faulty analogy. Deaths occur because people are not good enough at driving not because they are “ill responsible kids.” If the government raised the driving age to 30, then everyone above 30 would complain about the high accident rates of 30-year-olds. Rather than increasing the driving age for full driving privileges, the government could reduce the age for new restricted, daytime licenses. Then, by the time a 15 year old turns 16, he or she would have one full year of daylight driving. This would increase the driving freedom of teenagers and reduce the number of accidents.
The main right that the United States of America’s public school system violates is the 1st amendment mostly pertaining to free speech the right to express your individuality. An example of how young adults right to express their individuality is being violated in schools happened on 5/23/99. Andrea Byrd, a graduating senior at Alameda High School, wanted to wear a blue and silver ribbon on her graduation gown to memorialize the 12 students and one teacher who were murdered on April 20th in Littleton, Colorado. When she heard that she would not be allowed to wear the ribbon, she quickly fought back by calling Mark Silverstein, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Colorado, who faxed a letter to Alameda Principle Deborah Williams. Since the graduation was only days away, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on Friday for preliminary injunction. The court set emergency hearing but the judge ruled against Byrd and went along with the school districts rule on absolutely no extra materials on the graduation garment. The judge could have struck down the law as a violation of the 1st amendment but he obviously wanted to help the school censor students. At the trial, he asked, "What if a group of students wanted to demonstrate their support for the individuals that perpetrated this horrible crime?" and suggested some could show up wearing "miniature trench coats." This doesn’t make sense to me because if a group of students wanted to wear “miniature trench coats” they would have to have it seen in court and it would be overruled. Free speech is also violated but in this example the student had better luck with the fair judge. On 11/19/98 Student reporters and editors for a high school newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri sued their school for violating their First Amendment right to write and choose the articles for the paper. According to student reporter Rick Raven, “I think the school board is taking away our first amendment right. This is not surprising considering the fact that most government schools try to take away all student rights.” The students at the school find it impossible to write about such topics as smoking and drugs due to an inflexible administrative process. We acknowledgment the efforts of those at the newspaper. Kandace Callwell, student reporter, says, “We have to stand up for our rights.” The judge granted the students request to print the articles. “This is a big leap for students free speech rights,” said Rick after the trial.
Sometimes the schools are just foolish in their attempt to halt students learning process as a student in Evans, Georgia learned. The student was suspended from school after wearing a Pepsi T-shirt on Coke day, an event created by school officials who wanted to win a $500 contest run by the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. The principal suspended the student because the student was “showing disrespect.” School is supposed to be a place where you learn how to think, not what to think. This event shows you that the government will not allow different viewpoints. Students are brought into the school system at an early age to guarantee that they instantly adopt the government's opinions on every topic. Any original thoughts or actions will result in a lower grade or, if necessary, a suspension.
Young adults in America are fighting a war, a war on there basic rights being violated. This war can be won just like all the other injustices in the past were won, but it takes involvement. Only you can protect your rights and your children rights because maybe if children allow it long enough it may spread to the adults.
