Hurricane curfews are racist

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The countywide curfew, which went into effect at 3 p.m. Saturday as tropical storm force winds from Irma were approaching the county, was a legitimate way to protect people during a natural disaster, Green said. After the storm passed the county, the curfew was modified to cover only nighttime hours until it was lifted Thursday morning,

However, the West Palm Beach lawyer said, the racial distribution of the 177 people arrested on curfew violation charges underscores why he and other civil libertarians are deeply suspicions about how the restrictions are implemented.

Green based his comments on an analysis by The Palm Beach Post that shows blacks and Hispanics made up roughly two-thirds of the people charged with a curfew violation, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

The newspaper’s review showed that 137 people were arrested by the sheriff’s office and 40 others by city police departments on charges of violating the curfew during its nearly six-day run.

Of those arrested, 100 were white and 77 were black. That means 56.5 percent of those arrested were white and 43.5 percent were black, which is a disproportionately large number of blacks in comparison to the county’s population. According to a 2016 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau, 56 percent of the county’s population is white and 19.4 percent is black. Hispanics make up 21.5 percent of the population.

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