City Council members ‘need’ to override mayor’s veto of ‘snap curfew,’ alder says

City Council members ‘need’ to override mayor’s veto of ‘snap curfew,’ alder says

The future of a "snap curfew" for Chicago teens will come down to a vote on whether to overturn Mayor Brandon Johnson's veto of the ordinance.

CHICAGO - The future of a "snap curfew" for Chicago teens will come down to a vote on whether to overturn Mayor Brandon Johnson's veto of the ordinance.

The ordinance aims to prevent so-called "teen takeovers." It would give the police superintendent the final say on declaring 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.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) has been the primary supporter of the ordinance, which had been delayed multiple times after disagreements and negotiations with other aldermen and top police officials.

Last week, City Council voted 27-22 in favor of the curfew policy. Johnson immediately said he would veto.

"I will veto this ordinance because it is counterproductive to the progress that we have made in reducing crime and violence in our city," Johnson said on June 18. "It would create tensions between residents and law enforcement at a time when we have worked so hard to rebuild that trust."

In an interview with FOX 32 on Wednesday, Hopkins said he did not expect Johnson to veto the ordinance, citing the mayor's previous flip-flop on ShotSpotter.

Johnson initially said he would veto the plan to keep the gunshot detection system before reversing course and letting it stay in place.

"We have a very popular initiative. The City Council voted to support this despite opposition and I think we need to override the mayor's veto," Hopkins said.

"Snap curfew" backlash

The other side:

Opponents of the proposal have raised concerns about how it will be implemented and whether it will hold up legally. 

"We never bring up single-parent households or we never bring up the parents after Lollapalooza," said Ald. Angela Clay (48th). "We never talk about ‘Who raised you?’ and ‘Why don’t you have decorum?' after Pride Fest. We never talk about people's upbringing, only when it contains young Black and brown people."

The ACLU of Illinois has criticized the ordinance as a "Band-Aid" that does little to address the root causes of violence or youth participation in large gatherings.

Romya Simone, a youth leader with the organization Communities United, blasted the council for approving the measure in a statement:

"This decision shows that City Council members are not willing to do the hard work and address the real issues impacting young people. The snap curfew is not going to solve the safety problems that people are concerned about, it will only lead to more cases of police abuse, infringement of teens constitutional rights, and criminalization of Black and brown youth." 

The current Chicago curfew requires those 17 years old and younger to be at home by 10 p.m. unless accompanied by an adult.

What's next:

The vote on the mayor's veto will take place on July 16. Overriding the veto would require a two-thirds majority of the 50-seat council.

"We have one shot at it," Hopkins said. "We'll see if we can get to 34 votes."