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May 24th, 2023

 

Contact Information:
Faraldi for Lynchburg

(434) 515-2167

hello@chrisfaraldi.com

 

— Vice Mayor Faraldi Opposes Curfew for Youth — 

 

Lynchburg, VA — In a last-minute action, city council adopted a city-wide curfew for youth within city limits. The proposal was reviewed at the 4:00 pm work session and immediately slated for a vote at 7:30 pm, which unfortunately cut the public out entirely from the process. The policy itself will create a Class 4 Misdemeanor for those who violate the curfew while it is enacted. 

 

The Vice Mayor cited a peer-reviewed study as well as this report, among others, that articulated a lack of effectiveness in deterring crime from young people. These reports, and others, build the case against curfews for young people as a productive tool to be utilized. 

Even still, the Vice Mayor was the lone oppositional vote.

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The Vice Mayor voted against the ordinance for the following reasons:

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• Constitutional: US Constitution, Amendment IV; VA Constitution, Article 1, Sections 10, 12, and potentially 14.

• Infringement of Civil Liberties for young people.

• Lack of public input prior to vote/adoption.

• Effectiveness and efficacy of the ordinance.

• Rollout and implementation of the ordinance. 

 

Here is a statement from the Vice Mayor after Council's adoption:

 

In my opinion, we need to strategically target violent crime as a whole and our police response to it. Our mentality must shift across the board, from top to bottom, and I do not believe this puts us in that stance. In ways, I believe this has a high probability of causing more problems than it solves. 

 

Voters of Lynchburg did not elect Republicans to create police-state-styled policies for kids based on the poor actions of a few. 

 

The civil liberties of all in our city matter. Adopting this type of policy is not what conservatives were elected to do and infringes on the liberties of young people throughout the city. 

 

As a society, we rightly reject the adoption of gun bans and so forth due to a statistically small number of violations from bad-doers; we do make stiff penalties for those who dare inflict such evil in our community. 

This policy targets the symptom, not the problem, and any criminal (young or old) will not be phased by a $250 civil penalty. 

 

Instead of following the lead of Charlottesville and Roanoke, let's change the narrative and empower law enforcement to do their jobs better than ever before and take away violent criminals.

 

Finally, if it was wrong to adopt similar policies during COVID-19, it is wrong now.

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Chris Faraldi, a conservative Republican, is the Ward IV Representative and Vice Mayor of Lynchburg City Council.