The state’s highest court struck down a provision in a Lowell ordinance that made it a crime for children under 17 to violate a curfew, a ruling expected to affect other Massachusetts communities buying prescription drugs online that have adopted or are considering similar local laws. The Supreme Judicial Court said the criminal penalties minors faced for violating the 1994 law, including arrest and potential commitment to the custody of the Department of Youth Services, were too broad to pass constitutional muster, even if the city had legitimate public safety goals. “The criminal processes and punishments provided in the ordinance .
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Massachusetts Curfew law: Bars criminal charge, allows civil penalty