CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s curfew expansion for young people received final approval in the City Council on Wednesday, making permanent a controversial restriction on how late children can stay out in Chicago.
The move to lower the curfew to 10 p.m. from 11 p.m. for all days of the week following a teen’s fatal shooting at The Bean in Millennium Park garnered a 30-19 vote. It also comes on the heels of the mayor signing an executive order with the same adjustments as well as a separate directive she imposed on banning unaccompanied minors from Millennium Park on weekend nights.
Some aldermen on the council floor balked at what they said was an overreach that impinges minors’ rights, particularly for youths of color, and could be counterproductive. Other council members said the change won’t curb violence because the existing curfew is scantly enforced and that studies suggest such curfews don’t work.
