Press Release:                                  

February 18, 2005

Contact: 

 

Lolita Roibal, Youth Organizer, SWOP	505-247-8832
Karlos Schmieder, SWOP Communications	505-247-8832

SWOP Youth to “Bomb The Capitol” to Stop Proposed Youth Curfew:  First Graffiti Battle at a State Capitol Building in History 

Youth Organization lobbies State Legislature to stop the Curfew Enforcement Act

Santa Fe, N.M. State Capitol (February 19, 2005), 1pm (Press Conference at 2:30 pm in the Rotunda) – The SWOP (SouthWest Organizing Project) Youth Rights Campaign is holding the first ever “graff battle,” a youth art mural contest, at the State Capitol Building today, called “Bomb the Capitol”.  The event is an effort to stop the youth curfew and include youth in the issues that affect them.  In hip hop terms, “Bomb” means to Graffiti.  It will feature youth art on 4’x8’ walls, a break dancing exhibition, mc battling, disc jockeys, and a youth-organized press conference.  Ill-kids.com, a website for the hip hop community, Warehouse 21, a Santa Fe teen arts center, and the Santa Fe Mountain Center are also sponsoring the event. 

HB 471, the Curfew Enforcement Act (SB 645), sponsored by Rep. Al Park, would prohibit youth under 16 from being outside of their homes between the hours of midnight and 5 am.   

The Graffiti Battle is being held in symbolic protest by engaging youth in the political process through promoting positive youth creativity.  Graffiti Artists are often unjustly the target of police, although many of them say that cultural forms such as hip hop keep them out of trouble.  

“With young people carrying the burden of tax breaks, an unjust war and mounting debt, we need to find a way to support them rather than criminalize them,” says SWOP Co-director Robby Rodriguez.

SWOP Youth have fought past efforts of the legislature and Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez to pass curfew laws, which set curfew ages at 18 and under.  Currently, the State Constitution prohibits youth curfews.  Under the New Mexico Children’s Code, the American Civil Liberties Union was able to overturn Mayor Chavez’s previous youth curfew. 

The Bill spins the Curfew as a way to prevent neglect of young people.  However, According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the New Mexico Children’s Code already has provisions for police to stop young people who appear to be at risk for abuse and neglect, including if they are out late at night.  They agree that enforcement of the law could impede on constitutional rights.

“Curfews are unenforceable.  A curfew would allow police to harass and detain anyone who looks young (in tobacco law, this means anyone under 35).  This will lead to more racial profiling,” says SWOP Youth Intern Celia Fraire. 

Indeed, a New Mexico Voices for Children flyer states that “In some areas [where curfews have been enacted]…Hispanic and black youth [are] being arrested at rates markedly higher than white (non-Hispanic) youth.” The flyer also states that the “average adult believes that juveniles commit approximately half of violent crime, according to several studies; however, the actual figure is just 13%.  Curfew laws punish the 99% of teenagers who are law abiding.” 

The Bill currently is to be debated in the Senate Public Affairs Committee but has been tabled in the House Government and Urban Affairs committee until Rep. Park works with the ACLU on the constitutionality of the Bill.  New Mexico Voices for Children, the SWOP Youth Rights Campaign, the ACLU, and Dave Schmidt, of Albuquerque Family and Community Services all presented against the Bill.  

According to Fraire, “In Albuquerque, only 4% of the budget goes to Family and Community Services, while 20% goes to the APD.  The state needs to invest in programs and community centers that will keep youth off the street and in youth-friendly environments.”   

Recently curfews were overturned in the Florida State Supreme Court.             

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