The 2011 NYRA Annual Meeting, held July 29th through 31st, on the campus of University of Maryland – College Park was co-hosted by the UMD Chapter of SSDP and sponsored by the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Foundation. With nearly 70 people in attendance, this year’s conference was twice as big as 2010. Not…
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On July 12, I heard the distressing news that Montgomery County, MD, where I’ve lived my whole life, has proposed a youth curfew. Two weeks later, on July 26, we gathered at the Montgomery County Council hearing on the issue, “we” being myself (Katrina Moncure), Alex Koroknay-Palicz, Kathleen O’Neal, Abigail Burman, Alan Xie, and many…
Before the Montgomery County Council Testimony of Alex Koroknay-Palicz On behalf of the National Youth Rights Association on Youth Curfew July 26, 2011 Over the last two weeks I have been asked the same question many times: “What good reason is there for teens to be out after 11?” There are a number of good…
NYRA, and much of the Washington, DC area was caught by surprise this month when Montgomery County, MD County Executive Ike Leggett proposed a youth curfew law for the county. What was surprising is that crime has been steadily declining in the county, so unlike other communities that consider curfews, there seemed to be no…
Just finished the 18th run of #16tovote on the 16th! Being a lovely (where I am anyway) summer Saturday, certainly it felt like there may have been better things to do than be cooped up inside tweeting about lowering the voting age. But it was the 16th, and our monthly tradition called! Had a rather…
In a conversation with a friend who is new to youth rights ideology, I was recently asked a question. Why, he asked me, is youth oppression considered oppression as such when everyone experiences it? As my friend understood it, the oppression of young people was a necessary fact of life that all people passed through…
Definitely an important anniversary to mark for all of us. President Obama issued an official proclamation to honor the anniversary of lowering the voting age: Presidential Proclamation–40th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 26TH AMENDMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Forty years ago, the 26th Amendment…
Introduction One simple step can greatly improve voter turnout and interest in elections. This step can also increase government responsiveness and help reinvigorate our democracy. In state after state and around the world, allowing young people to vote in elections has had substantial positive effects. The voting age in the District of Columbia should be…
This morning, the Supreme Court released the opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. By a vote of 7-2, the court found that the law was unconstitutional. The opinion of the court drawing a sharp distinction between violence and obscenity, it states that protecting minors from displays of violence is not exempt from the first amendment, and finds that the law is unconstitutional.
