Hodgkins v. Peterson, Mayor of Indianapolis (1/22/04 USCA 7th Cir.)
Rovner, Circuit Judge
This was an appeal from the ruling of USDC SDInd; Tinder, Judge. As stated by the Court of Appeals in a 29-page opinion:
A parent and her minor children challenged Indiana’s curfew law (Ind. Code §§ 31-37-3-2 and 31-37-3-3.5 (“curfew law”)) claiming that the law violates the First Amendment rights of minors and impinges on the substantive due process rights of parents to raise and control the upbringing of their children. The district court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, holding that the curfew law—which contains an affirmative defense for minors arrested while participating in, going to, or returning from an activity protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution— did not threaten to curtail the First Amendment rights of juveniles and did not impede the due process rights of parents to direct their children’s upbringing without undue interference from the government. Even with the affirmative defense, however, the new curfew leaves minors on their way to or from protected First Amendment activity vulnerable to arrest and thus creates a chill that unconstitutionally imposes on their First Amendment rights. Consequently, we reverse the decision of the district court. * * *[Update 1/23/04] The Indianapolis Star gives this decision front page coverage this morning - access it here in a story headlines "Court strikes down state curfew law: U.S. appeals panel: Statute violates First Amendment." Some quotes:Although this disposition renders it unnecessary to reach the plaintiff parents’ due process claim, the nature of the curfew’s affirmative defenses leads us to make one final observation about that claim. The premise of the due process claim is that parents have a right to make decisions about their children’s upbringing without undue interference by the state. Courts sustaining curfew laws against this type of claim typically cite the laws’ exceptions and defenses as evidence that the laws interfere only minimally with parental authority. [citations omitted] In this case, the exceptions covering a broad variety of circumstances do give parents greater flexibility to allow their children to stay out after hours and in that way minimize the interference with parental autonomy. But the affirmative defenses in the Indiana curfew statute present a risk that a minor will be arrested whenever the arresting officer lacks direct knowledge that the minor is on an emergency errand, coming from a school sanctioned activity, or engaging in some other activity encompassed by the specified defenses. For that reason, we are not convinced that the affirmative defenses actually do minimize the state’s restraint on parental authority in a manner sufficient to overcome a constitutional attack. Nevertheless, we leave that determination for another day.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Indiana's curfew law was unconstitutional because it could dissuade children from exercising their First Amendment rights for fear of being arrested. The city of Indianapolis will stop enforcing the law immediately, police officials said. * * * The case now will be returned to the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, where Judge John Tinder is expected to place an injunction on the law so it is no longer enforced. City officials have not decided whether to appeal, said Scott Chinn, the city's corporation counsel, adding they could seek a trial in District Court or ask the legislature to amend the curfew law again.Posted by Marcia Oddi at January 22, 2004 02:52 PM