Curfew

Mayor Nutter said Friday that the weekend curfew he imposed on Center City and University City last month would remain in effect at least until the curfew law can be rewritten. After youths were arrested in a series of random beatings, Nutter announced in August that unaccompanied minors would have to vacate those neighborhoods - the social and economic heart of the city - by 9 on Friday and Saturday nights. He also ordered 20 of the city's largest recreation centers to extend their hours to 10 p.m. on weekends.

Mayor Nutter on Monday will extend the curfew for minors in Center City and University City another two weeks, until the regular school-year curfew kicks in. Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety, said the curfew, ordered by Nutter two weeks ago in response to attacks by roving bands of youths, had been effective and widely accepted by businesses, community groups and parents. Nutter will make the curfew extension formal Monday and continue stepped-up police patrols and extended hours at 20 recreation centers designed to provide alternate activities.

THE CORNER of Broad and South streets has long been a popular spot for Philadelphia's teen mobs, whose activity has led to a 9 p.m. weekend curfew for those under 18. But members of several community groups hope to turn the tables tonight at 8:30 in a demonstration against the curfew. Diop Olugbala, an independent mayoral candidate, says the curfew infringes on the rights of youth to assemble freely. It also fails to get to what he describes as the heart of the problem: economic conditions.

AS COLLEGE freshmen begin to flock to Philadelphia, some may be forced by the city's new extended curfew to spend their first couple of weekends in their dorms. The 9 p.m. curfew in University City and Center City will apply to college students who have yet to reach their 18th birthday - for another two weeks until Labor Day - said mayoral spokesman Mark McDonald. Once the school year begins, the curfew for teenagers will revert to 10:30 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends, he added.

By Louis Lombardi Mayor Nutter has decided to take an ironfisted approach to the city's flash-mob problem. Although his motives and much of his response are commendable, his decision to institute a curfew for portions of the city is troubling. While last weekend's relative quiet was attributed to the curfew, its reported effectiveness does not necessarily make it right. Under the curfew, youths under 18 who are found out and about after 9 p.m. in Center City, the South Street area, and University City are subject to arrest.

IN RESPONSE to the recent wave of youth crime, particularly the much-ballyhooed teen mobs, Mayor Nutter announced that the city would be imposing stricter curfew laws. The city previously required anyone under 18 to be indoors by midnight, and anyone under 13 to be off the streets by 10 p.m. Now on weekends in University City and Center City, because of recent violence, anyone under age must be inside by 9 p.m. Although this may seem like a reasonable solution, there are just too many reasons to say "no" to the curfew laws.

Mayor Nutter and police Commissioner Charles Ramsey deserve some applause for effectively implementing a stricter curfew that seems to have helped keep marauding youths from causing trouble. There were no "flash mobs" reported this past weekend. The random attacks by roving youths prompted Nutter two weeks ago to order a crackdown to calm nervous tourists and residents. Police on Friday and Saturday cited 70 minors under age 18 for violating the 9 p.m. curfew. The number of youths detained dwindled as the message apparently got out that police were serious about keeping those under age off the streets.

So far, so good: No "flash mobs" were reported in Philadelphia's first weekend of early curfews and extra police to curb teen violence. But a few dozen youths were picked up for violating curfew - and a teenage girl was stabbed in the arm on her way home from Mayor Nutter's Saturday-night youth bowling event. Police said the wound was minor. Twelve young people were picked up for curfew violations in Center City on Saturday night, and Nutter went bowling with hundreds of teenagers in Kensington as part of an effort to halt a string of random attacks by gangs of youths.

So far, so good: No "flash mobs" were reported in Philadelphia's first weekend of early curfews and extra police to curb teen violence. But a few dozen youths were picked up for violating curfew - and a teenage girl was stabbed in the arm on her way home from Mayor Nutter's Saturday-night youth bowling event. Police said the wound was minor. Twelve young people were picked up for curfew violations in Center City on Saturday night, and Nutter went bowling with hundreds of teenagers in Kensington as part of an effort to halt a string of random attacks by gangs of youths.

Tatiana Larry, 18, is headed to college soon, and she planned to spend Friday night shopping for clothes on South Street with friends. Larry, a graduate of the Math, Civics and Sciences charter school who will attend Spelman College in Atlanta on a basketball scholarship, said she did not know about the weekend curfew for minors until police stopped her and her 17-year-old friends shortly after 9 p.m. The next thing Larry knew, her friends...