INDIANAPOLIS -- A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled Indiana's curfew law unconstitutional, arguing it could dissuade children from exercising their First Amendment rights.
The Chicago-based 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 against the law, which bans minors from being out past 11 p.m. on weeknights and 1 a.m. on weekends.
The court said the law not only still violates minors' constitutional rights because it leaves them vulnerable to arrest, but also interferes with parents' rights to raise their children as they see fit.
Staci Schneider, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Attorney General's Office, declined to immediately comment on the ruling.
The court challenge grew out of the August 1999 arrest of 15-year-old Colin Hodgkins. The teen was arrested by Marion County Sheriff's officers while leaving a restaurant in the Indianapolis neighborhood of Broad Ripple three minutes after curfew. He and his family sued, claiming his constitutional rights had been violated.
Indianapolis is among the Indiana cities where the curfew law has been enforced.
A U.S. District Court judge struck down the law in July 2000. Soon after, the city of Indianapolis issued its own curfew ordinance.
In May, 2001, the Indiana General Assembly changed the law to allow minors to be out past curfew with their parents. The new law also allows minors to get out of a curfew violation charge in court if they were charged with the violation while exercising their First Amendment rights at a rally or a protest.
The case will now be returned to the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
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