This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Curfew Local Law."
It shall be unlawful for any person 17 or fewer years of age (under
18) to be or remain in or upon the streets within the Town of Stony Point
at night during the period ending at 6:00 a.m. and beginning:
A. At 10:00 p.m. for minors 11 or fewer years of age.
B. At 10:30 p.m. for minors 12 or 13 years of age.
C. At 11:00 p.m. for minors 14 or more years of age.
It shall be unlawful for a parent having legal custody of a minor knowingly
to permit or by inefficient control to allow such minor to be or remain upon
any street within the town under circumstances not constituting an exception
to or otherwise beyond the scope of this chapter. The term "knowingly" includes
knowledge which a parent should reasonably be expected to have concerning
the whereabouts of a minor in that parent's legal custody. It is intended
to continue to keep neglectful or careless parents up to a reasonable community
standard of parental responsibility through an objective test. It shall, a
fortiori, be no defense that a parent was completely indifferent to the activities
or conduct or whereabouts of such minor.
Prevailing community standards and the real internalization thereof
or interpersonal sanctions therefor that, in practice, count for much, as
to when minors should be off the streets, reflected in this chapter, are hereby
undergirded with the following legal sanctions:
A. If, after the warning notice pursuant to §
83-6 of a first violation by a minor, a parent violates §
83-5 (in connection with a second violation by said minor), this shall be treated as a first offense by the parent. For such first parental offense, a parent shall be fined $25, and for each subsequent offense by a parent, the fine shall be increased by an additional $25. (e.g., $50 for the second, $75 for the third offense). The court, upon finding a parent guilty, shall sentence the parent to pay such fine and the costs of prosecution and, upon refusal to pay such fine and costs, to be imprisoned for a period not exceeding 10 days.
B. Any minor who shall violate any of the provisions of
this chapter more than three times shall be reported by the Town Board to
a society or organization whose purpose it is to take charge of incorrigibles
and delinquents, and proceedings shall then be taken, under the Family Court
Act, for the treatment, supervision and rehabilitation of such minor.
C. A like procedure before the juvenile authorities shall
be followed in any case where the imposing of a fine or fines upon a parent
shall not be effective or where, for any other reason, the provisions of this
chapter cannot be made effective by the imposing of penalties under this section.
Severability is intended throughout and within the provisions of this
chapter. If any provision, including inter alia any exception, part, phrase
or term or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held
invalid, the application to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected
thereby, and the validity of this chapter, in any and all other respects,
shall not be affected thereby. From excess of caution, the Town Board is authorized
to give advisory opinions, in writing or immediately reduced to writing, which
shall be binding and shall be adhered to by the police until this chapter
is amended in such respect, interpreting terms, phrases, parts or any provisions.
Normally such advisory opinions shall be in response to good faith, signed
letters, addressed to him at the town administration building, questioning
as ambiguous, as having a potentially chilling effect on constitutional rights
specifically invoked or as otherwise invalid, in all three categories with
respect to proposed conduct definitely described. This administrative remedy
must be exhausted prior to presenting to any court a question in any of said
three categories. The Town Board does not intend a result that is absurd,
impossible of execution or unreasonable. It is intended that this chapter
be held inapplicable in such cases, if any, where its application would be
unconstitutional. A constitutional construction is intended and shall be given.
The Board does not intend to violate the Constitution of the State of New
York or the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Town Board will continue its evaluation and updating of this chapter.
A. Accordingly, there shall be compiled and informally reported
to the Town Board through effective channels all exceptional cases hereunder
of reasonable necessity, the notices of school and other activities, special
permits and regulations hereinbefore authorized and advisory opinions for
consideration by the appropriate committee and by the Town Board in further
updating and continuing evaluation of this chapter.
B. For the same reasons, as well as for the implementation
beyond these legal aspects of the basic purposes hereof, the Town Board and
relevant committees of the Town Board, through their respective chairmen,
in coordinated efforts, shall work with existing and may organize voluntary
groups and shall stimulate volunteer leadership in programs of research and
of action dealing constructively, on neighborhood and local bases, with juvenile
delinquency and the prevention, control or containment thereof in all its
ramifications and with practicable steps toward the good life and a better
life for minors 17 or fewer years of age and with the working of this chapter,
communitywise and in individual cases, as one much needed legal tool toward
that end as well as for continuing present protection of minors and of other
persons and of property and other interests important to the welfare of the
people of the Town of Stony Point.