CHICAGO—Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of an ordinance that would’ve allowed Chicago police to declare a curfew with 30-minutes’ notice survived an override attempt by some city council members on Wednesday.
The effort to override the veto failed in a 27-22 vote, falling seven short of the super majority needed to overturn it.
“The easy thing to do would be to play into the political theater of safety. The easy thing to do would be to tell people that if you threaten young people and families with severe repercussions, that somehow it would make us safe,” Johnson said at a press conference Wednesday.
“But we know from years of doing the same old, tired forms of policy that it doesn’t get the results that people have longed for. It doesn’t keep us safe, and it doesn’t make our city strong.”
Also known as the “snap” curfew ordinance, it was first proposed in April to address so-called “teen takeovers,” which are large gatherings of minors organized via social media that have occasionally resulted in incidents of violence and property damage downtown.
Civil rights lawyers and educators who previously spoke with People’s World raised concerns the proposed ordinance was unconstitutional, as it would likely undermine minors’ right to due process, and that it would likely discriminate against Black youth and other minors of color.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and other organizations criticized the ordinance in April, citing how Chicago Police disproportionately arrested Black people during a curfew in 2020. In their statement, they argued that “evidence indicates that curfews do not affect crimes committed by, or targeted against, young people,” citing The Marshall Project and the Campbell Collaboration.
The Chicago Teachers Union issued a statement Wednesday applauding the defeat of the ordinance and compared it to Jim Crow-era legislation.
“The evidence is clear: In Chicago, Baltimore and Birmingham, Black mayors are leading historic declines in violent crime by investing in people and respecting our youth,” said CTU President Stacy Davis Gates. “The evidence shows you improve safety through investing in young people and their communities instead of investing solely in policing them.”
Shootings and violent crimes in Chicago are down 30% through the first half of 2025 compared to last year, and the city recorded the fewest homicides for the month of June in more than a decade, according to data from the Chicago Police Department. Total violent crime is down at least 22% thus far in 2025.
Davis Gates criticized those who promoted the snap curfew ordinance as people who are also “the loudest to protest” more funding for Chicago youth.
“The irony is that the loudest voices in favor of policies to criminalize our children are also the loudest to protest and resist funding budgets that promote youth employment,” she said.
Davis Gates applauded Johnson’s decision to veto the ordinance—the first veto from a Chicago mayor since 2006—and said “Chicago is becoming a city who invests in, loves on, and embraces Black youth.”
She also said her union will host three “Oh Snap” youth events this summer in collaboration with community leaders “as part of the union’s continued investment in supporting the safety and growth of Chicago’s young people.”
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