When you hear politicians and police talk about getting tough on "youth crime," you might imagine a school shooting, like those that occurred in Jonesboro, Arkansas and Springfield Oregon. Others may recall television clips of young people, sometimes covered in masks or paper bags to hide their identities, being dragged away in handcuffs, while the television reports on charges ranging from rape to robbery. But in America today, more children are arrested for curfew law violations than for any other single category of crime, including all violent crimes combined. Everyone from law enforcement to the President has endorsed tougher curfew laws as a solution to America's crime problems, even though no one has ever cited hard data to show that sending over a hundred thousand children through the justice system for getting out too late each year reduces crime. . They assume that anything that gets kids off the streets must reduce crime. There is no justification for youth curfews (which may explain why the Supreme Court has not written an opinion on the issue). Restricting an American's freedom of movement is a clear violation of the First Amendment, and walking in a park or public square is hardly the "clear and present danger" to the community usually required for such a violation. Today it seems that the laws make it a crime to be young. Curfew laws violate the rights of all people, particularly focusing on young people. In general, they should move around without interference from authorities, unless and until they are actually doing something illegal. But a mayor or city councilor doesn't need such rhetoric. Why worry about the First Amendment when you can claim to reduce crime rates but not influence voters? Most major cities have a nighttime curfew for youth, and a small percentage of these cities also have a daytime curfew. Enforcing this law is believed to be a productive use of a police officer's time. Many argue that the curfew gives police time to focus on older criminals, since so-called juvenile offenders will no longer be on the streets. However, many also think that enforcing curfews is not the best use of an officer's time. Some cities complain that the curfew increases the amount of paperwork they have to process. And some have noted that there is nowhere to take minors if their parents aren't home.