Increase Public Safety and Advance Racial Justice by Repealing Juvenile Curfews

Roughly three-quarters of American cities have juvenile curfew laws that criminalize youth for being in public spaces during late night and school hours. These laws disproportionately punish black and brown youth and low-income families. This policy brief argues that juvenile curfew laws should be repealed to decriminalize poverty and reduce the criminalization of youth of color. It also outlines case studies from Texas, where cities chose to reduce punishments for breaking curfew, decriminalize their curfew, or end their curfew altogether.