Curfew
A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorities but may also be given by the owner of a house to those living in the household. For instance, children are often given curfews by their parents, and an au pair is traditionally given a curfew by which time he or she must return to his or her host family's home. Some jurisdictions have juvenile curfews that affect all persons under a certain age not accompanied by an adult or engaged in certain approved activities.
Curfews have been used as a control measure in martial law, as well as for public safety in the event of a disaster, epidemic, or crisis. Various countries have implemented such measures throughout history, including during World War II and the Gulf War. The enforcement of curfews has been found to disproportionately affect marginalized groups, including those who are homeless or have limited access to transportation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, curfews were implemented in several countries, including France, Italy, Poland, and Australia, as a measure to limit the spread of the virus. However, recent studies have reported negligible or no effect and even a potential increase in virus transmission. The use and enforcement of curfews during the pandemic has been associated with human rights violations and mental health deterioration, particularly among females and young people, further complicating their use as a control measure. Curfews may also impact road safety, as studies indicate a potential decrease in crashes during curfew hours but an increase in crashes before curfew due to rushing.
Etymology
Between the evening twilight and the grayness before dawn, one can hardly make out the walls of the houses, for there is no lighting in the medieval city, as we said. At evening curfew, the women cover the coals in the hearth with ash to reduce the fire hazard. The houses are built with beams of oak, and everyone is a potential tinderbox waiting to blaze up, so at night, the only flames left burning are the candles before the holy images. Why would the streets need to be lit anyway? In the evening, the entrances to the dangerous neighborhoods are barred, chains are stretched across the river to prevent a surprise attack from barbarian raiders coming upstream, and the city gates are locked tight. The city is like one big household, with everything well secured.
Arsenio Frugoni, Quoted in Urban Space in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age The word "curfew" /ˈkɜːr.fjuː/ comes from the Old French phrase "couvre-feu", which means "cover fire." It was later adopted into Middle English as "curfeu", which later became the modern "curfew". Its original meaning refers to a law by William the Conqueror that all lights and fires should be covered to extinction at the ringing of an eight o'clock bell to prevent the spread of destructive fire within communities in timber buildings.
Historical
Curfews have been used since the Middle Ages to limit uprisings among subordinate groups, including Anglo-Saxons under William the Conqueror. Before the U.S. Civil War, most Southern states placed a curfew on slaves.
Modern curfews primarily focus on youth and during periods of war and other crises. In the United States, progressive reformers pushed for curfews on youth, successfully securing bans on children's nighttime presence on streets in cities such as Louisville, Kentucky, and Lincoln, Nebraska. General curfews were also put into place after crises such as the 1871 Chicago Fire.: 603–605
Wartime curfews were also implemented during the First and Second World Wars. A formal curfew introduced by the British Board of trade ordered shops and entertainment establishments to extinguish their lights by 10:30 p.m. to save fuel during World War I.
Types
- Public authorities or military forces issued an order requiring everyone or certain people to be indoors at certain times, often at night. It can be imposed to maintain public order (as was the case with the northeast blackout of 2003, the 2005 French riots, the 2010 Chile earthquake, the 2011 Egyptian revolution, and the 2014 Ferguson unrest), or suppress targeted groups. Curfews have long been directed at certain groups in many cities or states, such as Japanese-American university students on the West Coast of the United States during World War II, African-Americans in many towns during the time of Jim Crow laws, or people younger than a certain age (usually within a few years either side of 18) in many towns of the United States since the 1980s. In recent times, curfews have been imposed by many countries during disease epidemics or pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic; see below.
- A rule set for a child or teenager by their parents or legal guardians, requiring them to return home by a specific time, usually in the evening or night. This may apply daily, or vary with the day of the week, e.g., if the minor has to go to school the next day.
- An order by the head of household to a domestic assistant such as an au pair or nanny. The domestic assistant must then return home by a specific time.
- A daily requirement for guests to return to their hostel before a specified time, usually in the evening or night.
- A daily requirement that a person subject to a court order, such as probation or bail conditions, must return to their home before a certain hour and be inside it until a certain hour of the morning.
- In baseball, a time after which a game must end, or play be suspended. For example, in the American League the curfew rule for many years decreed that no inning could begin after 1 am local time (with the exception of international games).
- In aeronautics, night flying restrictions may restrict aircraft operations over a defined period in the nighttime, to limit the disruption of aircraft noise on the sleep of nearby residents. Notable examples are the London airports of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, which operate under the Quota Count system.
- In a few locations in the UK, patrons of licensed premises may not enter after a "curfew" time, also known as "last orders". In Inverclyde, for example, this is currently set at 12:00 am.
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root