PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (PNN) - September 22, 2011 - On Thursday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter unveiled an unconstitutional plan to permanently tighten the city’s curfew law with earlier hours. This comes in the wake of last summer’s flash mob attack in Center City.
The mayor’s unlawful plan, on what he believes will be a more effective curfew than what is now on the books, will be introduced in City Council.
“The basis for (the changes) is a sense of the developmental realities of young people,” said Mark McDonald, Mayor Nutter’s spokesman. “There’s a distinction between what a 12- or 13-year-old might be capable of, (compared to) a 15-year-old.”
Several changes are in store, including earlier hours.
“The older minors during the school year would have to be in by 10:00 p.m. Fourteen and 15-year-olds by 9:00 p.m., and minors 13-and-under would be in by 8:00 p.m.”
That is one or two hours earlier than the current curfew. In addition, the mayor wants the curfew hours to be uniform across an entire week, rather than having later weekend hours, which is the rule in place now.
McDonald says, in some respects, these changes will simplify the curfew.
Ed. Note: Simplifying a curfew makes government control easier to achieve. For would-be tyrants, a dictatorship is always simpler than a free society.
