One of NYRA’s most legally active chapters, NYRA Southeast Florida has continued their good works in fighting against the enforcement of an illegal curfew in the city of West Palm Beach. The lawsuit itself, their piece de resistance, is tentatively scheduled for July 2010. It is a milestone for NYRA as a whole, as it is the first lawsuit filed by a NYRA chapter. For now, they have received an order from Judge Zloch to proceed with mediation, and will do so with the aid of Boca Raton civil rights attorney Barry Silver.
This is a very strong first step, forcing the City to evaluate, in the stark light of the law, just how unfair and undignified their curfew truly is, something the administration has repeatedly refused to do despite being shown compelling evidence. Under such scrutiny, the discriminatory ordinance is unlikely to long survive. According to NYRA SEFL’s lawsuit: “[a]lmost all conceivable actions of a minor including associating with his friends and family, speaking, traveling freely etc. are covered by the First Amendment.”
When reached for comment, NYRA President Jeff Nadel, one of NYRA SEFL’s most ardent political crusaders, said, “We’re very glad that the lawsuit is progressing as it as, as we are simply unable to sit idly by as an unjust curfew is illegally enforced and as youth are intimidated by the City. The numerous exceptions in the curfew ordinance make it so the only way the curfew can be enforced is arbitrarily and discriminatorily.” Keep updated on the lawsuits progress here.
