Politics
Key City Panel Rejects Push to Punish Parents If Their Kids Violate Curfew, Other Laws
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
A key City Council panel voted 10-5 on Tuesday to reject a proposal designed to hold parents accountable if their children violate Chicago’s curfew or a host of other laws.
The City Council’s Public Safety Committee rejected the measure crafted by Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) after a brief debate about whether the city should seek to jail people whose teens “violate curfew, engage in drag racing, flipping of cars, intoxication or use of paintball guns.”
With the support of Alds. Marty Quinn (13th Ward), Matt O’Shea (19th Ward) and Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward), Lopez first introduced the measure in October 2023, only to have it languish without a hearing or vote for more than two and a half years.
The measure would have held parents responsible for the actions of their children “as if they committed the acts themselves, with all charges to be pursued by the Chicago Police Department.”
The measure would have also increased the fines for a host of violations to between $1,000 and $5,000, and require those younger than 18 to perform community service and “undergo licensed family counseling.”
Lopez, one of the most conservative members of the City Council, said the city must act to ensure that parents take a more active role in their children’s lives and prevent them from committing crimes that degrade the quality of life for all residents of Chicago.
Since the start of the year, violent crime is down nearly 10%, as compared with the first two months of 2025, according to city data. Violent crime dropped nearly 23% last year, as compared with 2024, according to city data.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward) said he was uncomfortable with a measure that could have resulted in the jailing of anyone for something they did not directly do.
After a representative of the city’s Law Department expressed concern that the measure was unlikely to withstand a court challenge, Lopez agreed to revise it and attempted to prevent a vote on his proposal.
However, Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) asked the committee to reject it outright, and succeeded.
Lopez’s proposal is the latest push to expand the city’s curfew power in an attempt to stop large gatherings of teens that have turned violent.
Johnson vetoed a measure passed by the City Council 27-22 that would have allowed CPD to impose a “snap curfew” and allowed officers to start enforcing the measure within just 30 minutes.
Another measure that would have given CPD brass the power to declare a preemptive curfew, with at least 12 hours’ notice, before a planned mass gathering at any time or place in the city stalled in January.
Also on Tuesday, the Public Safety Committee took no action on a separate measure authored by Lopez that sought to impose a 10-day jail sentence and a $5,000 fine on anyone arrested while “wearing a mask, hood, or other clothing or device that concealed or attempted to conceal the person’s identity at the time of the offense.”
Lopez agreed to revise that measure to address concerns from the city’s Law Department and several alderpeople that it was overly broad and would be nearly impossible to implement.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
