Massachusetts Curfew law: Bars criminal charge, allows civil penalty

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The state’s highest court struck down a provision in a Lowell ordinance that made it a crime for children under 17 to violate a curfew, a ruling expected to affect other Massachusetts communities that have adopted or are considering similar local laws.

The Supreme Judicial Court said the criminal penalties minors faced for violating the 1994 law, including arrest and potential commitment to the custody of the Department of Youth Services, were too broad to pass constitutional muster, even if the city had legitimate public safety goals.

“The criminal processes and punishments provided in the ordinance . . . contradict well-established goals of rehabilitating, not incarcerating, juvenile offenders,’’ Justice Robert J. Cordy wrote on behalf of the court.

The court, however, left intact civil penalties for violators of the ordinance, which requires juveniles to be home from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., with some exceptions. Those penalties are a $50 fine and a notice to parents or guardians.

Can my cousin get his record cleared then?