U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II has ruled that the City of Cloverport’s overnight curfew law is unconstitutional and he has prohibited the city from enforcing it.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed in October 2002 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky.  Representing four Cloverport residents, the ACLU argued that the city’s ordinance constituted martial law and violated core intrastate travel rights.

The Cloverport ordinance prohibited anyone – juveniles or adults – from being on the city streets late at night, unless they were at work, passing through town or going to a “lawful” destination.  The city’s police chief had unbridled discretion to determine whether a destination is “lawful” under the city ordinance.

“Most Americans have a sense of personal liberty as a fundamental right,” Heyburn wrote in the opinion.  “This personal liberty includes the right to travel freely through and about public places....”

Though courts have recognized a community’s interest in protecting the welfare of its citizens when imposing travel restrictions, Heyburn said the Cloverport ordinance sweeps too broadly because it includes conduct that is neither criminal nor disruptive.  He said residents “pursuing their own idiosyncratic but perfectly legitimate late night wanderings” would not know whether city police might find their conduct unlawful.

David Friedman, ACLU of Kentucky General Counsel, and John Valentine, a Louisville lawyer serving as an ACLU cooperating attorney on the case, said Heyburn’s decision means Cloverport residents will be free to take an early morning walk, stargaze, or ride around town without fear of receiving a warning or fine from city police.