By a vote of 15-1, the Philadelphia City Council passed a stricter curfew bill that will sweep minors from the streets during curfew hours. Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell cast the lone vote against the bill.
The bill’s sponsor, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, admitted there is no data to show curfews are effective in stemming youth violence. Still, the 99 percent will be penalized for the random acts of a few knuckleheads.
The vote was greeted with chants of “Shame! Shame!” by Occupy Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Anti-Curfew Action Committee.
It was an ironic end to this chapter in the criminalization of black youth. Evelyn “Champagne” King was 17 when she recorded the disco hit “Shame” in Philly, her adopted hometown.
The curfew will deny today’s 17-year-olds, as one witness testified, opportunities to “flourish in this city.” And that’s a low down dirty shame.
