(CHICAGO) — An ordinance that would have held parents responsible for their child’s actions with regards to “teen takeovers” failed to pass at Wednesday’s city council meeting.
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), the ordinance’s chief sponsor, brought the measure to the floor for a vote. It failed to pass with 30 aldermen voting against it.
The ordinance was first introduced in October 2023 but stalled in committee. Lopez says he and Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) used a parliamentary procedure to keep the legislation from dying in committee. The latest version addressed the constitutional questions raised by the Department of Law, questions regarding excessive fines by creating an “either/or” scenario for fines or community service, a graduated increase in penalty based on repeat offenses in a twelve month time span, and the defining of street take overs, open air gathers, curfew violations, and crimes by adults that contribute to the delinquency of minors.
