Council Seeks Curfew Law for Youths in Santa Monica

Santa Monica teen-agers are about to be grounded.

But only late at night and for their own good, said the five members of the Santa Monica City Council who have asked the city’s lawyers to write up a curfew law.

As it is envisioned, the curfew law would ban minors from hanging around on the streets after 10 p.m. on weeknights and after 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

There are notable exceptions: Youths would be permitted out and about with their parents or other adult guardians. Or if they are working. Or if they are en route to or from the movies or another entertainment venue.

In other words, if the law is enacted, teen-agers could catch a late movie on the Promenade, but hanging around afterward could lead to a citation, a trip to the police station and a call to mom and dad.

Council members Robert T. Holbrook and Asha Greenberg made the case for the curfew, saying it is dangerous for teen-agers to be out late at night. “We ought to have a legal reason to ask them to go home,” Holbrook said.

This is the council’s second attempt to reinstate a curfew law in the city since a 1946 statute was deemed unconstitutional a few years ago by former Santa Monica City Atty. Robert M. Myers.

Despite a plea from Police Chief James T. Butts for such a law, the council split 3-3 on the issue last March, with Councilman Ken Genser absent because of illness.

Genser joined Greenberg, Holbrook and Councilmen Kelly Olsen and Paul Rosenstein in backing the curfew but Mayor Judy Abdo and Councilman Tony Vazquez opposed it.

It will come back to the council for a full public hearing before being voted upon.

It is expected to draw strong opposition from those in the community who believe it violates the rights of teen-agers.

Butts said he needs the law, common in other cities, as an enforcement tool to control gangs and protect teen-agers from late-night street crime in the city’s myriad recreation spots.

Curfew supporters, including the local PTA, say a curfew law will help protect teen-agers from some of the risk-taking behavior that is their developmental hallmark, but which can get them in trouble or lead to their injury or death.