CHICAGO – The Chicago City Council could vote to override Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of an ordinance allowing for temporary curfews for teenagers on Wednesday.
The City Council is set to meet at 10 a.m. when the mayor’s veto will be read and aldermen can take a vote to override.
Before the meeting, Johnson was expected to appear at a press conference at 8:30 a.m. related to his veto of the curfew measure, according to his public schedule.
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.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) championed the curfew policy, which would allow police to implement curfews when they had intelligence of large gatherings, in coordination with the mayor’s office.
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 “new investments in youth jobs, safe spaces for young people, and mental health care.”
Opponents of the policy have also raised concerns about how it would be implemented and if it would hold up to legal challenges.
Overriding the mayor’s veto would require a two-thirds majority of the 50-seat City Council.
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