Yakima City Council kills proposed curfew ordinance

YAKIMA, Wash. -- In a surprise move, the Yakima City Council killed a proposed curfew ordinance this morning.

Councilman Micah Cawley said the council voted not to move forward with an ordinance after police Chief Sam Granato said crime data didn’t justify one.

Last month, the council asked staff to explore a juvenile curfew modeled after a similar ordinance in Tacoma that has never been challenged in court.

The city has had a curfew ordinance on the books since 1994, but stopped enforcing it after the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in the Tacoma suburb of Sumner on the grounds it was unconstitutionally vague and not tailored narrowly enough.

During a meeting this morning at City Hall, Granato and Assistant City Attorney Cynthia Martinez said they doubted an ordinance would be an effective deterrent against gangs and graffiti.

Granato said an analysis of crime data — a key requirement by the courts for an ordinance to pass constitutional muster — did not justify a curfew.

“The data shows that the majority of juvenile felony arrests are from 2 to 8 p.m.,” he said.

He said the ordinance had other problems as well. Curfew violations are status offenses, and violators cannot be locked up. In addition, the high court’s Sumner decision made it clear that a civil rights violation could be heavily punished in a lawsuit.

“If we could get it done without getting our pants sued off, I’m all for it,” Granato said. “But we’re not baby sitters, and we’re not a taxi service.”

Cawley said he voted against tabling a proposed ordinance and would have preferred to keep crafting something that would pass constitutional muster.

“At some point, we’ve got to say enough is enough,” Cawley said. “We the people run this government, not the courts, not activist judges. It’s very frustrating.”