Chicago City Council fails to override mayor's veto of teen snap curfew ordinance
Chicago City Council fails to override mayor's curfew veto
The city council failed Wednesday to override Mayor Brandon Johnson's veto on a snap curfew.
CHICAGO - The Chicago City Council failed to override Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of a controversial ordinance allowing for temporary curfews for teenagers aimed at preventing large gatherings that have at times turned violent.
The council voted for the override 27-22 but fell short of the 34-vote threshold needed for an override.
The vote represents a victory for Johnson and his allies, who argued such a policy would target Black and Latino youth and would be "counterproductive" to the progress the city has made to reduce crime.
While the council also voted 27-22 to pass the ordinance last month, Johnson vetoed it days later, a rare move in city government.
‘This is unconscionable’
What we know:
The ordinance would have given the Chicago Police Department superintendent the ability to declare a curfew in any part of the city after conferring with the mayor’s office and upon receiving information that a large teen gathering would happen.
Before the meeting, Johnson appeared at a press conference, flanked by several City Council members, to explain his opposition to the ordinance and why he vetoed it.
"I decided to veto this measure because it would be counterproductive to the progress of reducing crime and violence in our beloved city," Johnson said during the press conference.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) championed the curfew policy, which he argued would allow police to prevent so-called teen takeovers before they take place and possibly turn violent. He claimed that Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling asked aldermen to pass the ordinance.
"The mayor just threw the police under the bus," Hopkins said before Wednesday's meeting. "The superintendent sat at that meeting with me and asked for this. He asked for this ordinance to be passed and the mayor just denied that. This is unconscionable and the city of Chicago needs to know the next violent teen takeover that happens when the blood sheds, it’s on them."
The alderman said he didn't know how the vote would shake out because there had been "movement" among members, but he thought it was good to make members go on the record.
‘The work is working’
The backstory:
At a meeting last month, the council narrowly approved the measure 27-22, after outcries from officials and locals worried about large teen gatherings across the city that have sometimes turned violent.
Critics of the policy argued that such curfews did little to combat unruly behavior and that it was more effective to find alternative ways for young people to spend their time.
Johnson said shortly after the vote he would veto the ordinance and did so, calling the measure "counterproductive." In a letter explaining his veto, he cited the declining crime numbers in Chicago and investments in youth employment and mental health services.
"The work is working," Johnson said before Wednesday's meeting.
Opponents of the policy have also raised concerns about how it would be implemented and if it would hold up to legal challenges.