Ramos ex rel. Ramos v. Town of Vernon

Decision Date13 May 1999
Docket NumberNo. 3:98CV1944 (AHN).,3:98CV1944 (AHN).
Citation48 F.Supp.2d 176
PartiesAngel RAMOS, By and through his next friend, Janet RAMOS, Richard Ramos, by and through his next friend, Janet Ramos, and Janet Ramos v. TOWN OF VERNON and Rudolph Rossmy, police chief in his official capacity.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

Ann Parent, Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Jon Schoenhorn, Law Office of Jon L. Schoenhorn, Jeanne Zulick, Law Office of Jon L. Schoenhorn, Hartford, for plaintiff.

Jerome Levine, Vernon, Martin Burke, Rockville, for defendant.

RULING ON REQUEST FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

NEVAS, District Judge.

The plaintiffs, Angel Ramos,1 Richard Ramos, and Janet Ramos, bring this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against the defendants, Town of Vernon ("Vernon") and its police chief, Rudolph Rossmy ("Rossmy"), challenging the validity of Vernon's night-time curfew ordinance for persons under the age of eighteen. The plaintiffs allege that the curfew ordinance violates their constitutional rights as guaranteed by the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and their rights as guaranteed by various provisions of the First Article of the Connecticut Constitution.

Currently pending is the plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. For the reasons that follow, this motion [doc. # 4] is DENIED.

BACKGROUND
I. The Curfew Ordinance

On August 2, 1994, Vernon enacted "An Ordinance Establishing a Curfew" (the "curfew ordinance" or "ordinance"). (Compl. for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief ¶ 1 [hereinafter "Compl."].) The ordinance creates a general curfew for persons under eighteen that is in effect from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on weeknights and 12:01 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. on weekends. (See id.) The ordinance sets forth a number of exceptions to the curfew's general prohibition. (See id.)

The curfew ordinance states that it was enacted to:

1. protect minors from each other and from other persons on the streets during nocturnal hours;

2. promote parental responsibility for and supervision of minors; and,

3. protect the general public from nocturnal mischief and crime committed by minors.

Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(a) (attached as Ex. A to Compl.). The ordinance establishes the following offenses:

1. Curfew for Minors. It shall be unlawful for any minor to remain, idle, wander, stroll or play in any public place or establishment in the Town during curfew hours unless accompanied by a parent, guardian, custodian or other adult person having custody or control of such minor or unless the minor is on an emergency errand or specific business or activity directed or permitted by his parent, guardian, or other adult person having the care and custody of the minor or where the presence of such minor is connected with or required by some legitimate employment, trade, profession or occupation, or unless the minor is exercising his/her [F]irst [A]mendment rights.2

2. Parents' Responsibility. It shall be unlawful for the parent, guardian or other adult person having custody or control of any minor under the age of sixteen (16) to suffer or permit or by inefficient control to allow such person to be on the streets or sidewalks or on or in any public property or public place or establishment within the Town during the curfew hours. However, the provisions of this Section do not apply to a minor accompanied by his or her parent, guardian, custodian or other adult person having the care, custody or control of the minor, or if the minor is on an emergency errand or specific business or activity directed by the minor's parent, guardian, custodian or other adult having the care and custody of the minor or if the parent, guardian or other adult person herein has made a missing person notification to the Police Department.

Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(c).

The curfew ordinance provides the following definitions:

1. Curfew Hours: For minors under eighteen (18) years old: shall be between 11:00 p.m. on any Sunday, Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday until 5:00 a.m. of the following day; and 12:01 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. on any Saturday or Sunday.

2. Emergency: shall mean an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action. The term includes, but is not limited to, a fire, a natural disaster, or automobile accident, or any situation requiring immediate action to prevent serious bodily injury or loss of life.

3. Establishment: shall mean any privately-owned place of business operating for a profit to which the public is invited, including but not limited to any place of amusement or entertainment.

4. Guardian: shall mean a person who, under court order, is the guardian of the person of a minor; or a public or private agency with whom a minor has been placed by the court.

5. Minor: shall mean any person under eighteen (18) years of age.

6. Parent: shall mean a person who is a natural parent, adoptive parent, or step-parent of another person; or at least eighteen (18) years of age and authorized by a parent or guardian to have the care and custody of a minor.

7. Public Place: shall mean any street, alley, highway, sidewalk, park, playground or place to which the general public has access and a right to resort for business, entertainment, or other lawful purpose. A public place shall include but not be limited to any store, shop, restaurant, tavern, bowling alley, cafe, theater, drug store, pool room, shopping center and any other place devoted to amusement or entertainment of the general public. It shall also include the front or immediate area of the above.

8. Remain: shall mean to linger or stay, or fail to leave the premises when requested to do so by a police officer or the owner, operator, or other person in control of the premises.

Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(b)(1)-(8).

The curfew ordinance provides the following exception for special functions:

Any minor attending a special function or event sponsored by any religious, school, club, or other organization that requires such minor to be out at a later hour than that called for in this section shall be exempt from the provisions of this ordinance provided such minor has the approval of his or her parent or guardian to attend said function or event. Such minors who attend said function or event shall be required to be in their homes or usual place of abode within one half hour after said function or event is ended.

Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(d). This exception is in addition to the exceptions contained in the general curfew definition which, as noted above, provides that no violation occurs if:

(1) the minor is accompanied by a parent, guardian, custodian or other adult person having custody or control of such minor; or

(2) the minor is on an emergency errand; or

(3) the minor is engaged in specific business or activity directed or permitted by his parent, guardian, or other adult person having the care and custody of the minor; or

(4) the minor is engaged in some legitimate employment, trade, profession or occupation; or

(5) the minor is exercising his or her First Amendment rights.

See Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(c).

The curfew ordinance authorizes police officers to issue citations to minors sixteen or seventeen years old. See Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(e)(1). For minors under the age of sixteen, the ordinance requires police officers to issue a warning for the first infraction. See Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(e)(2)(A). If a minor under sixteen fails to heed a warning or has been warned on a previous occasion, a police officer can take the minor to the Police Department and notify the parent, guardian or other adult person having the care and custody of the minor. See Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(e)(2)(B).

For minors sixteen and seventeen years of age who violate the curfew, the ordinance provides that they shall be fined no more than $50 for the first infraction, $75 for the second infraction, and $90 for all subsequent infractions. See Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(f)(2). For minors under sixteen, the ordinance provides that the parent, guardian or other adult person having the care and custody of a minor, who has received notice under § 8-4(e)(2), shall be fined no more than $50 for the first infraction, $75 for the second infraction, and $90 for all subsequent infractions. See Curfew Ordinance § 8-4(f)(3)(A).

II. The Parties and Proceedings

The plaintiff, Richard Ramos, is a fourteen year old resident of Vernon. (See Compl. ¶ 8.) He alleges that with his mother's permission he has engaged and continues to engage in social activities with his friends that continue past the start of the curfew. (See id. ¶ 10.) He claims that he has literally had to run home from such activities for fear of being caught out during curfew hours. (See id.) The other plaintiff, Janet Ramos, is a resident of Vernon and the mother of Richard Ramos. (See id. ¶ 11.) She alleges that the curfew ordinance usurps her parental authority and violates her right to set her own limits on her son's activities as she sees fit. (See id. ¶ 12.)

Vernon is a Connecticut municipality organized under the laws of the State of Connecticut that enforces its juvenile curfew ordinance as a matter of official policy. (See id. ¶¶ 13-14.) Rossmy is the chief of police for Vernon and is responsible for the enforcement of the ordinance. (See id. ¶ 15.)

After the filing of this action, the Court provided the parties with time to conduct discovery and retain experts. In January and February 1999, the Court conducted a lengthy hearing which consolidated the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction with a trial on the merits. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A party may seek a declaratory judgment pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201 in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 57. "The existence of another adequate remedy does not preclude a judgment for declaratory relief in cases where it is appropriate." Id. ...

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