This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Curfew
Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to update the Borough Curfew
Ordinance which prescribed, in accordance with prevailing community
standards, regulations for the conduct of minors on streets at night,
was effectively enforced, taught in the homes and internalized and
adhered to for generations, all for the good of minors, for the furtherance
of family responsibility and for the public good, safety and welfare.
[Amended 9-11-2006 by Ord. No. 4-2006]
It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of 18 to be
or remain in or upon the streets within the Borough of Towanda, Pennsylvania,
during any period of time commencing at 10:00 p.m. and ending at 6:00
a.m.
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 Borough street under circumstances
not constituting an exception to or otherwise beyond the scope of
the Curfew Ordinance. 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.
A police officer of the Borough, upon finding or having attention
called to any minor on the streets in prima facie violation of the
Curfew Ordinance, shall take the minor to the Borough Police Station
where a parent shall immediately be notified to come for such minor,
and whereupon they shall be interrogated. This is intended to permit
ascertainment, under constitutional safeguards, of relevant facts
and to centralize responsibility in the police officer there and then
on duty for accurate, effective, fair, impartial and uniform enforcement
and recording, thus making available experienced supervisory personnel,
the best of facilities and access to information and records. In the
absence of convincing evidence, such as a birth certificate, a police
officer on the street shall, in the first instance, use his best judgment
in determining age.
A. Police procedures constantly shall be refined in the light of experience
and may provide, inter alia, that the police officer may deliver to
a parent thereof a minor under appropriate circumstances, for example,
a minor of tender age near home whose identity and address may readily
be ascertained or are known.
B. In any event, such police officer shall file within 24 hours a written
report with the Chief of Police.
C. When a parent immediately called has come to take charge of the minor
and the appropriate information has been recorded, the minor shall
be released to the custody of such parent. If the parent cannot be
located or fails to take charge of the minor, then the minor shall
be released to the juvenile authorities, except to the extent that
in accordance with police regulations and approved in advance by juvenile
authorities, the minor may temporarily be entrusted to a relative,
neighbor or other person who will, on behalf of a parent, assume the
responsibility of caring for the minor pending availability or arrival
of a parent.
D. In the case of a first violation by a minor, the Chief of Police
shall send, by certified mail, to a parent, written notice of said
violation, with a warning that any subsequent violation will result
in full enforcement of the Curfew Ordinance, including enforcement
of parental responsibility and of applicable penalties.
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 Curfew Ordinance are hereby undergirded with the following legal
sanctions:
A. If, after the warning notice pursuant to §
128-7 of a first violation by a minor, a parent violates §
128-6 in connection with a second violation by said minor, this shall be treated as a first offense by the parent. For summary conviction of such first parental offense, the fine shall be $25, and for each subsequent offense by a parent, the fine shall be increased by an additional $25, e.g., $50 for the second offense, $75 for the third offense, up to a maximum of not more than $300. The Magisterial District Judge, 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 the costs, the parent shall be imprisoned in the jail of Bradford County for a period not to exceed 10 days.
[Amended 9-11-2006 by Ord. No. 4-2006]
B. Any minor who shall violate any of the provisions of the Curfew Ordinance
more than three times shall be reported, by the Mayor, to a society
or organization whose purpose it is to take charge of incorrigibles
and delinquents, and proceedings shall then be taken under the Juvenile
Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6301 et seq., before the juvenile court
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 the
Curfew Ordinance cannot be made effective by the imposing of penalties
under this section.
Severability is intended throughout and within the provisions
of the Curfew Ordinance. 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 the Curfew Ordinance in any and all other respects shall not be
affected thereby. From excess of caution, the Mayor 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
the ordinance 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
Borough Administration Building, questioning as ambiguous, having
a potentially chilling effect on constitutional rights specifically
invoked or 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. Borough Council does not intend a result
that is absurd, impossible of execution or unreasonable. It is intended
that the Curfew Ordinance be held inapplicable in such cases, if any,
where its application would be unconstitutional. A constitutional
construction is intended and shall be given. Council does not intend
to violate the construction of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or
the Constitution of the United States of America.
Borough Council will continue its evaluation and updating of
the Curfew Ordinance.
A. Accordingly, there shall be compiled and informally reported to Borough
Council through effective channels, such as the normal monthly distribution
by the Borough Manager and Borough Secretary to each Councilman, the
Mayor and the Borough Solicitor of noteworthy material, all exceptional
cases hereunder of reasonable necessity, the notices of school and
other activities, the Mayor's special permits, the Mayor's
regulations hereinabove authorized and the Mayor's advisory opinions
for consideration by the appropriate committee and by Borough Council
in further updating and continuing evaluation of the Curfew Ordinance.
B. For the same reasons, as well as for the implementation beyond these
legal aspects of the basic purposes hereof, the Mayor and relevant
committees of Borough Council, 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 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 years of age or less and with the working of the Curfew
Ordinance in the community 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 Borough of Towanda.