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Broward ACLU Condemns Atlantis Raids
May 8, 2001
In the City of Fort Lauderdale, the principles of equal rights, due process, and fundamental fairness are being denied to a large and vibrant segment of our population. City officials, in a misguided attempt to reduce noise and crime along Fort Lauderdale's popular tourist strip, have, in effect, declared war on young adults between the ages of 18 and 21.
The specific city law excludes anyone under 21 from entering an establishment where alcohol is served, even if the youngster never seeks a drink. Last October, after reports showed the rate of fights, burglaries, and other crimes had increased in the Fort Lauderdale beach area, the city passed an under-21 ban in establishments that served alcohol. City officials put the blame for the trouble on young clubgoers, and targeted Club Atlantis because it attempts to draw a young crowd and is so popular with those 18 and older.
No one should be surprised that our youngest citizens, including those between the ages of 18 and 21, would want to patronize an establishment like Club Atlantis. And city officials are wrong to assume that these youngsters will automatically drink or do something else illegal if they are allowed to enter; they may just want to dance or talk or engage in harmless social interaction.
There are laws preventing all of the crimes which motivated the city to pass this law. There is even a law against drinking if you are under the age of 21. It may sound simplistic, but the appropriate way for the City of Fort Lauderdale to reduce noise and crime along the beachfront is to enforce existing laws. Monitoring Fort Lauderdale's popular tourist strip may not be an easy job for the police, but it is by no means impossible.
Now that Club Atlantis has obtained a state license to operate as a restaurant, meaning that it will again be legally open to those under 21, it remains to be seen whether the City will end its war or just look for another way to shut the Club down.
Since 1920 the ACLU has led the way in creating a body of law that has made the principles of equal rights, freedom of expression, due process and fundamental fairness come alive - even for segments of our population that have traditionally been denied these rights.
The Broward County ACLU urges the City to call off this vendetta. Since there are other, legitimate ways for the City to accomplish its goals, why should an entire class of people suffer needless and unjustifiable discrimination, when many if not most of these young citizens do not engage in the kinds of behavior that generated the City's concerns in the first place? The last time we looked, it was not a crime to be between the ages of 18 and 21.
Source: Broward Chapter of the ACLU of Florida
