Possession of a skateboard: A new crime?

It's not a weapon. It's not a drug.

It is, simply, a length of laminated wood with two sets of wheels * attached.

Why then is City Council in Cape May trying to ban the mere possession of a skateboard?

Yes, City Council has introduced an ordinance making it illegal to "possess, park or stand, carry or transport" a skateboard at the city's Promenade, the Washington * Street Mall, public parks and any other governmentally-controlled public area in town.

Why? Well, you see, some skateboarders skate where they are not supposed to, and when the police come, they simply stop and pick up their boards, leaving the police powerless to cite them for illegal skateboarding.

The horror.

Certainly, there are legitimate public-safety reasons to prohibit skateboarding in areas where the activity poses a significant danger (to others or to the skaters). But banning the mere possession of a skateboard is laughable overkill.

And don't tell us that sometimes hordes of skaters congregate in a particular area and scare the bejabbers out of some folks.

First, we've never figured out what some people find so threatening about a bunch of teenagers in baggy clothes and silly hats playing on skateboards.

And second, if these youths are, in fact, creating some kind of actual public nuisance (which has been known to happen from time to time), there is no shortage of laws already on the books to address the problem.

But ban the possession of a skateboard?

What happens to public officials that they can't see the inherent silliness in such a law?

And how odd that a society that places so much emphasis on doing things "for the children" has such a hard time letting teenagers be teenagers.

[See related articles Skateboard Carrying Outlawed in NJ City? and Skateboard Ban "Will Not Be Passed" in Cape May, New Jersey *

(This article was originally entitled "POSSESSION OF A SKATEBOARD: A new crime?" and was found at http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/ 112103SKATEBOARDS.html)

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