The Atlanta City Council voted Tuesday to eliminate legislation that calls for parents and guardians to be fined and face jail time if their children violate curfew.
Instead, parents of those 16 and younger who violate the city’s curfew — 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends — will now get a phone call and warning citation for the first offense, according to the change made to the city’s curfew law.
Further curfew violations could result in a parent or guardian being put on probation and mandated to attend educational programs “designed to address specific issues relevant to the child’s circumstances.”
The tweak to the city’s curfew ordinance, in place since 1990, is intended to try to mitigate a recent spate in late-night violence involving teens.
“The city of Atlanta has always had a curfew,” said Councilmember Antonio Lewis, sponsor of the legislation, at Tuesday’s council meeting. “I remember running home when it was time for the curfew.
“This [legislation] is actually about promoting and enforcing it in a different kind of way,” he said. “So we removed two provisions from the curfew — the 60 days of jailing from the curfew and up to $1,000 fine because I don’t think that we should be fining and jailing people for breaking curfew.”
Councilmember Keisha Waites proposed an 8 p.m. curfew last year, but it gained no traction with the rest of the city council because members thought it was “too excessive,” Lewis said.
Lewis said groups like Black Men Build, Black Male Initiative, Mothers Against Gun Violence and Mothers Against Gang Violence would provide the educational programming for parents whose children repeatedly violate curfew. The idea is that educational programming as part of the new legislation would be more impactful on reducing teen violence than fining and jailing parents.
“It keeps the same curfew that’s already been on the books for the last 30+ years in the city of Atlanta of 11 p.m. but it adds in … a Beloved Community type vibe,” Lewis said.
“My office is wanting to make sure that we pass legislation that was strong and firm but it didn’t hurt people, it didn’t impact people forever,” Lewis said.
Lewis was asked during public comment, before the changes were approved, if the city would be funding the organizations being asked to provide the educational programming.
“They haven’t asked for $1,” Lewis said. “They do this work every day, they have their hands open for the people.”
The council also approved a resolution — that is not enforceable by law — urging parents and guardians to voluntarily abide by a 9 p.m. curfew on weekdays and 10 p.m. curfew on weekends. The resolution does not change the city’s curfew hours, council members stressed.
“Although we were not able to codify this into law through an ordinance, it is our belief that we still need to know where our kids are and urge parents to be accountable,” Waites said. “And so for the protection of our children and our city, we believe that this paper is a good paper to move forward as well.”
