Vincent Schiraldi

Curfews do not reduce juvenile violence, claims Vincent Schiraldi in the following viewpoint. Schiraldi, the director of the Justice Policy Institute, argues that an analysis of curfews in California shows that those curfews did not lead to significant declines in crime. Schiraldi contends most crimes by juveniles are committed during the afternoon and evening, not late at night when the curfews are in effect. In addition, he maintains that such laws are unfair to law-abiding children, especially minorities. The JPI is a project of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, a private organization whose mission is to reduce society’s reliance on the use of incarceration as a solution to social problems.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. By what percentage did arrests for curfews increase between 1994 and 1996, as stated by...