Swearengen-Ware

If the Memphis City Council passes a daytime juvenile curfew ordinance, a number of parents and guardians of children in Memphis City Schools could find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

 For example, if the police catch children ages 5 to17 roaming the street or in public places between 8:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m., they would be authorized to enforce the proposed ordinance.

The proposed curfew also would threaten parents.  If their children miss more than five unexcused days during the school year, they could be charged with a Class C misdemeanor, fined no more than $50 for each violation and serve up to 30 days in jail.

Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware, the chief architect of the proposed ordinance, is working with civic leaders, organizations and law enforcement agencies to build the case for it.

There is opposition, with questions raised by a former U.S. attorney and skepticism voiced by officials with the Memphis Police Department. There is also a study from last year that challenged assumptions about a daytime curfew and concluded it was unlikely to succeed, noting that the consequences would outweigh the benefits.

Ware said the ordinance would strengthen the state law for truants and keep children in school. But there isn’t much difference between the state law and the proposed ordinance, except the latter calls for a daytime curfew.

Currently there is a nighttime curfew for juveniles in Memphis. But enforcement is rarely seen as effective or a cure-all for unruly juvenile behavior.  

Coleman-Davis

Ware says that with a daytime curfew in place, the high number of truants in MCS would be reduced significantly. The goal, she said, is to keep children in school.

“The number of truants in Memphis and Shelby County is startling and outrageous,” the councilwoman said.

A daytime curfew has been on the drawing board for some time, she said.  She is now working to fine tune it before it goes before the full council.

Truancy is not a criminal offense

There are 117,000 students in MCS. Of that number, at least 30,000 are truant each year, according to Assistant District Attorney Brian Davis. He said the number of truants is based on his conservative estimate on figures compiled by prosecutors.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 students are unexcused from school more than five days a year, Davis said. “A vast majority will have 10 or more unexcused absences. Some kids miss 40, 60 and even 100 days from school. And there are some who haven’t been in school in two or three years,” he said.

“Under the current law, if the police see a child leaving campus, they will take him back to school or take him home. A child can’t be arrested for truancy; it’s a status offense.”

Status offenses, or unruly offenses, apply only to children between the ages of 5 and 17. There are three classifications – those who are habitually disobedient, those who run away, and those who are truant.

According to the law, a court cannot hold a status offender in detention for more than 24 hours. But if a truant under the age of 18 commits a crime, such as burglary or theft, he or she could be held as a delinquent.

Depending on the crime and the minor’s age, he or she could be transferred to Criminal Court and punished to the fullest extent of the law. According to the D.A.’s office, 158 juveniles in 2006 were prosecuted as adults in Shelby County, compared to 211 in 1996.

Also in Shelby County, 1,221 juveniles were arrested in 2005, compared to 1,314 in 2004. Murders also were reported for juveniles. There were 16 in 2005 and 12 in 2004.

According to the D.A.’s office, habitual truancy is a significant predictor of juvenile crime and gang involvement. The office also notes that 25 percent of all juvenile crime is committed during school hours and attributed to truant and suspended students.

In delinquency cases, juveniles must receive treatment, but are never referred to as “guilty,” “charged” with a crime, or under “indictment.”

Treatment for juvenile delinquents could mean being under house arrest, a stint in Tall Trees, Shelby Training Center or any long-term facilities. A child cannot be locked up for a status offense.

Contrary to public perception, the D.A. has no authority to prosecute a truant – which is a status offense – unless the offense is upgraded to a delinquent act.

 This is a matter of concern to former U.S. Attorney Veronica Coleman-Davis, who fears the distinction between truants and delinquents is considerably blurred.

“Yes, most delinquents have been truant sometimes in their lives. But it is absolutely untrue that most truants become delinquent,” said Coleman-Davis, president and CEO of the National Institute for Law & Equity and a former Juvenile Court referee.    

Now, the state requires all parents to observe the Compulsory School Attendance law. But if a child is truant, said Assistant D.A. Davis, “I can petition the parent to come to Juvenile Court. If a parent violates an order regulating conduct, a truant can become delinquent, which constitutes a crime. Then I will prosecute the parent.”

Before this happens, notices are sent to parents when their children are unexcused for three days. After the fifth absence, they will get a warning. From that point, parents are close to breaking the law.

Truancy is a social problem

Although Ware is uncertain when the full council would vote on the proposed ordinance, she is confident she would get the council’s support. “I wouldn’t put much time and energy into this for nothing,” she said.  

Councilman Harold Collins supports Ware’s argument for a daytime curfew. The special assistant for Violent Juvenile Crime and Truancy Reduction said the ordinance would force the Memphis Police Department, MCS, parents, teachers and students to be accountable.

“We’re not trying to wait until children are truant,” said Collins, who oversees the D.A.’s Anti-Truancy Mentoring Program. “Anytime you bring accountability into this, there will be people against this. [But] we don’t want kids to have a criminal record.”

Coleman-Davis said she doesn’t have a problem with accountability. Instead, she is concerned about “innocent children” being subjected to police action.

“What we’re doing is looking at the failure of parents, looking at the failure of the school system, social services and the justice system, and we’re placing the blame and burden on our children,” she said. “We’re saying we’ve failed; so we’ll put the cops on you.”

Officials with the MPD are also skeptical about a daytime curfew.

 

Godwin

“We can snatch kids up every day. That’s not the problem,” said Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin. “If we catch 10 to 12 kids a day, where are we going to put them? Juvenile Court won’t be able to handle the numbers.”

Deputy Chief Michael Smith, who oversees investigative services, said officers are encouraged to check for truants during a 7 a.m. roll call. “We do our best with the tools we have,” he said.

Truancy is a social problem that affects the total community, said Coleman-Davis. “They’re basically treating these kids like criminals for a non-crime. No officer can make a stop and transport somebody without making paper. There will always be a record of what that officer did.”

Juveniles should be arrested if they commit a crime, she said. “But this is not about punishing kids. It’s about a curfew being selectively enforced by police.”

MCS is the largest school system in Tennessee and the 21st largest in the U.S. The district is 87 percent black, which stands to reason that the overwhelming majority of truants are black, said Coleman-Davis.

“The net effect of a curfew will place the burden on the African-American community. We’re more highly policed, especially in the low-income areas.”

Memphis City Schools Interim Supt. Dan Ward said his knowledge about the proposed curfew is limited. However, he said, “Truancy comes about because of parental indifferences.”

A curfew would certainly get parents’ attention, Ward said. “But I don’t think truancy is a law enforcement issue. It’s a little heavy-handed to get law enforcement involved.”

Ward said if everybody does what is needed to keep children from skipping school, there wouldn’t be a need for law enforcement. He said people tend to abdicate their responsibility.

“There are parents who have done all they can who have problems with their children. A curfew may be particularly invasive.”

Will a daytime curfew work?

Last year, the D.A.’s office commissioned a study to try to determine the effectiveness of a daytime curfew for the city. The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission conducted the study with research provided by the MPD and truancy data from MCS.

Although a daytime curfew appears to be acceptable to some council members and the D.A.’s office, the study raised a number of concerns:

• After the initial enactment and enforcement, the benefits of a daytime curfew would wane.

• Daytime curfews are viewed as ill-advised reactions to juvenile problems.

• There would be a lack of enforcement and funding sources.

• Since current truancy and nighttime curfew statutes aren’t enforce aggressively, another ordinance wouldn’t be recommended.

• Youths would likely challenge the curfew as a violation of their rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and 14th amendments.

• Many juvenile offenses occur between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., when neither the proposed daytime juvenile curfew nor the current nighttime curfew is in effect.

• The documented consequences outweigh potential benefits, such as discriminatory enforcement, displacement of crime, reverse effect of curfew laws, and the assumption that juveniles are safe in their domestic environment.

The study also concluded that neither the D.A.’s office nor MCS has actual numbers of truants per year. MCS estimates the number of truants to be 10,000 to 13,000 per year. The D.A.’s office, however, has only estimated the number of delinquents, and its number for truants doesn’t correspond with MCS numbers.

According to the study, African Americans were arrested for curfew violations at a rate 19 times greater than that of whites. In San Francisco, curfew enforcement was stopped because African-American youths were arrested while white youths of similar ages were not.

The study concludes with this assessment: A curfew alone won’t cure violence and destruction among youth.

Parents’ reaction

Despite those concerns and the questions raised by Coleman-Davis, Phyllis Randolph, a city schoolteacher and single parent, said a daytime curfew is long overdue. She’s convinced a curfew would keep children off the street and in school.

Randolph

“Sometimes when parents drop their kids off at the front door, they’d leave out the back,” she said. “And some kids take off during lunch period when they aren’t supposed to.”

Coleman-Davis said that when MCS abolished corporal punishment, scores of students were sent to Juvenile Court for disposition of disorderly conduct and assault and battery.

“These kids were at school and sent to Juvenile Court,” she said. “They weren’t truant; they were in school. It was a big problem for the schools and the court refused to accept most of them.”

Randolph said parents and school-age children should follow the provisions of the proposed ordinance. Otherwise, “there has to be some consequences for their actions.”

If the ordinance passes, the 30-year teacher said she wouldn’t worry about her own daughter violating the curfew. “She’s in school when she’s supposed to be and in the house at a certain time of the evening.”

McWright

Miriam L. McWright, also a single parent, is not as gung-ho about a curfew as Randolph. She said while one is needed to corral wayward children, there are circumstances beyond some children’s control.

“There are some good kids who don’t go to school,” she said, “because their mom might be on drugs or they may have to stay at home to keep the baby.”

Although MCS has abolished corporal punishment, McWright says it corrects bad behavior nonetheless.

“Sometimes you have to whip kids’ butts,” she said. “If they quit taking away parents’ rights, maybe kids wouldn’t behave so badly.”

With two children in school, McWright said, “It’s hard when you try to work and do the right thing. It’s (curfew) unfair to parents. As parents, we should have input in the law.”