Curfews “Definitely Work”—If We Define “Work” as Increasing the Possibilities for Police Violence – Mother Jones
▻https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/06/do-curfews-work-confusion-los-angeles
But, here’s the question: Do curfews even work? Or maybe I should ask, who do curfews work for?
The first thing Ritchie told me was: “Curfews definitely work to increase possibilities for criminalization and police violence. We can guarantee that they work for that.”
She added, “Responding to a protest of police violence with more police violence and more criminalization is the absolute worst possible response if you’re trying to address the issues that protesters are raising right now.”
Historically, curfews have been used to suppress dissent and uprising. Most notably, when Black Americans protested in the streets in the 1960s to demand equal rights, cities responded with strict curfews. “People were shot and killed by police enforcing curfews,” Ritchie told me. “So the reaction of the young man you witnessed yesterday who said ‘we should go home’ is the intended impact.”