A former city police officer wants the courts to block Virginia Beach from using a controversial all-ages curfew to prevent nighttime unruliness and violence in a portion of the Oceanfront.
A day after City Council enacted a temporary curfew that starts this weekend, Lisa Lawrence challenged its legality in Circuit Court.
The filing seeks an emergency injunction and argues the city exceeded its authority granted by state law when it declared an imminent threat exists. It asks the court to declare the ordinance unlawful and prevent the curfew from being enforced.
But it doesn’t look like it can stop the curfew from beginning tonight.
Tim Anderson, an attorney and former state delegate who represents Lawrence, told WHRO a hearing will not take place until Tuesday. The final night scheduled for the all-ages curfew is Friday, April 24.
“It will only affect, theoretically, next weekend’s activities,” Anderson said of the filing.
Lawrence is a retired city police officer who lives a block from the curfew area in a home her family has owned since 1939. She supports police officers and Police Chief Paul Neudigate, who asked for the curfew, but says it doesn’t solve issues at the Oceanfront.
“It’s punishing and restricting the freedom of people who have nothing to do with any of the things that are happening at the Oceanfront,” she told WHRO. “They just want to enjoy the Oceanfront.”
Her filing says she’ll suffer "irreparable harm,” including not being able to leave her home and travel freely when the curfew is in effect.
City Council adopted the ordinance for a temporary curfew in a 10-1 vote Thursday.
It came after Neudigate requested it after recent shootings and concerns about crowds. Council adopted it over the objections of a number of people concerned about its effect on businesses and the city’s image as a tourism destination.
Deputy City Attorney Chris Boynton said the city received the filing and is evaluating it and will “vigorously” defend its position.
“City Council has the authority to implement an imminent threat curfew,” he said. “The city has followed the letter of that law and we are focused on the imperative of preserving public safety.”
The all-ages curfew starts at 9:30 p.m., this Friday and Saturday nights and Friday, April 24, ending at 5 a.m. each following morning. The curfew area is between Pacific Avenue and the Atlantic Ocean from Rudee Loop to 31st Street.
It’s in addition to a weekend-only curfew starting at 7 p.m. for unaccompanied minors in the same area. That’s still in effect through the end of April.
The suit says the city relied upon concerns about crowds and shooting incidents on March 7 and April 11 and “anticipated future crowd activity” to create an ordinance that restricts the plaintiff’s “ability to move freely within public spaces within the curfew zone.”
It uses a section of the law authorizing curfews in response to “civil disturbance in the nature of a riot” to address issues such as general concerns about gatherings and crowd management, the suit says, which “do not constitute an ‘imminent threat’ under the law.
It says the ordinance is a “policy response to anticipated conditions, not a lawful emergency measure.”
“The lawsuit basically says that the General Assembly gave localities the authority to impose emergency curfews, but it's only for 24 hours,” Anderson said.
He added that there is no challenge to another emergency curfew restricting unaccompanied minors starting at 7 p.m.
“You can restrict juveniles,” he said, “but you can’t restrict adults.”
