This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Curfew Ordinance."
It shall be unlawful for any person under 18
years of age to be or remain in or upon the streets or to be in any
public place within the Borough at night during the period beginning
at 11:00 p.m. and ending at 6:00 a.m.
It shall be unlawful for a parent of a minor
knowingly to permit or by inefficient control to allow such minor
to be or remain upon any street or in a public place within the Borough
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.
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 an excess of caution, the Borough Manager
is authorized to give advisory opinions, in writing or immediately
reduced to writing. These opinions shall be binding, shall be adhered
to by the police and shall interpret terms, phrases, parts or any
provisions of this chapter. Normally, such advisory opinions shall
be in response to good faith, signed letters, addressed to him/her
or her at the Borough's administration building, questioning
as ambiguous, as having a potentially chilling effect on constitutional
rights specifically invoked or as otherwise invalid. This administrative
remedy must be exhausted prior to presenting to any court any such
question. The Borough Council does not intend a result that is absurd,
impossible of execution or unreasonable. It is intended that this
ordinance be held inapplicable in such cases, if any, where its application
would be unconstitutional. A constitutional construction is intended
and shall be given. The Borough Council does not intend to violate
the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the Constitution
of the United States of America.