New Chicago curfew ordinance makes it out of committee, separate measure stalls

The Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee has passed a revised teen curfew ordinance as a way to control large teen gatherings.

The measure would give Chicago’s police superintendent new powers to declare a curfew at a specific time and place as long as a 12-hour notice is given.

It passed by a 10-4 vote.

“I do hope this is something that will pass on an ordinance,” said 39^th Ward Ald. Samantha Nugent. “I think it’s a measure that could improve safety and get kids home in the event there is a large gathering that could be dangerous,” she said.

Along with the curfew proposed by 2^nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins, the committee also considered a measure backed by Ald. William Hall of the 6^th Ward that would hold social media companies responsible of they fail to take down posts advertising the so-called “teen trends.”

“Our ordinances work together. That’s our hope that this ordinance offers an additional layer of protection,” Hall said after his measure failed to be voted either up or down.

Hall is an ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has expressed some skepticism about curfew legislation.

The City Council passed a nearly identical ordinance in June of last year, but it was vetoed by the mayor. There was hope among some council members that the two ordinances, as a package, would win a veto-proof council majority this time.

But other members questioned the legality and practicality of holding companies like Meta, X and TikTok to blame for spreading message about potential teen trends.

“You don’t sue a building because somebody puts a poster on it,” said Ald. Andre Vazquez of the 40^th Ward.

He said suing social media companies, who are protected largely by federal law, would put the city in a difficult legal situation.

Currently Chicago has a 10 p.m. curfew for minors. Hopkins said that curfew and the mayor’s repeated statements that it would be enforced on New Years Eve, helped contribute to the peaceful staging of the city’s events along the river front and at Navy Pier.

The renewed calls for a curfew come after 14-year-old Armani Floyd was shot and killed during a large gathering in the Loop following the city’s annual tree lighting ceremony in Millennium Park in November. Eight other teens were also shot that night only a few blocks away in a separate incident.

Hopkins and Hall said they plan to work with the city’s law department to fix what they admit are problems with the social media accountability ordinance.

Johnson, at a separate event, said he has not made up his mind on whether or not he would veto these curfew measures if they make it as far as his desk.