SAN DIEGO – Today, several cities and certain unincorporated areas in San Diego County enacted curfews following demonstrations held to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., and the deaths of other African Americans killed by police officers throughout the country.
Please attribute the following statement to David Loy, legal director for the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties:
“Universal curfews are the wrong way to respond to disruptions in otherwise peaceful protests. Curfews that bar all presence in public are far broader than necessary and unjustifiably bar essential activities such as travel to and from work, seeking emergency medical care and fulfilling other caregiving responsibilities. Such curfews are especially inappropriate in cities that have not experienced any unlawful conduct.
“By making presence on public streets anywhere in a city unlawful, curfews give police much discretion over whom to interrogate or arrest. This can lead to selective and biased enforcement, especially against Black people and other people of color; and it can invite harassment of people who are unhoused. Blanket curfews also undermine transparency and accountability by preventing the press from covering law enforcement’s response to public events.
“Combined with troubling reports of aggressive force by law enforcement officers against protesters, blanket curfews repeat the problems that result in protests against abuse of police power.”
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