September 26, 2009
By Jonathan Saltzman
Boston Globe Staff
The state’s highest court yesterday struck down a provision in a Lowell ordinance that made it a crime for children under 17 to violate a curfew, a ruling expected to affect other Massachusetts communities that have adopted or are considering similar local laws.
The Supreme Judicial Court said the criminal penalties minors faced for violating the 1994 law, including arrest and potential commitment to the custody of the Department of Youth Services, were too broad to pass constitutional muster, even if the city had legitimate public safety goals.
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