Three months ago, Southwest Side Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) tried to hold Chicago parents accountable for curfew violations, street racing, and drug, alcohol and firearms offenses committed by their children.
His attempt to use parent responsibility to, as he put it, “create better parents” was shot down by a City Council committee — even after Lopez offered entertain amendments that would have softened the potential legal blow to parents and legal guardians.
The debate showcased the Council’s political divide. Conservative alderpersons, who are among the police union’s staunchest supporters, want to get tougher on crime. Democratic socialists and other progressives seem more, or at least equally, concerned about preserving individual rights.
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Lopez plans to try again to force parents to pay more attention to where their kids are going in an effort stop large groups of young people summoned by social media from turning violent.
Lopez plans to use a parliamentary maneuver to not only resurrect the ordinance that received a “Do Not Pass” recommendation in the Committee on Public Safety, but to substitute a new version of it with even stronger consequences for parents whose kids cross the line.
One of the City Council’s most conservative members and staunchest police supporters, Lopez believes the political dynamic has changed since the March vote rejecting his parental responsibility ordinance.
“Since March, we’ve had more than a dozen teen takeovers. Hyde Park was destroyed in Ald. [Desmon] Yancy’s ward by 500 youths stomping through Hyde Park Boulevard. We’ve had numerous events downtown and in the neighborhoods. And we continue to have street takeovers involving vehicles doing doughnuts and setting the pavement on fire,” Lopez said.
“There’s more of an appetite now — especially as aldermen gear up to go knocking on doors asking for people’s votes to stay in office. They know that people want to see City Council take some action.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson has long opposed stricter curfew laws and punitive measure like holding parents accountable. He has argued that investing in young people and their long-neglected neighborhoods — not punishing them and their parents — is the answer to keeping teen gatherings from turning violent.
At a City Hall news conference Tuesday, Johnson made it clear that his position on such politically volatile issues has not changed.
“I’ve said from the very beginning it’s not just about accountability. It’s about opportunity as well. That’s why I’ve called on the business community, the philanthropic community, our faith-based organizations, [and] community-based organizations to invest in safe spaces — and people are doing that,” Johnson said.
The mayor commended the Art Institute for “creating a space for over 500 teenagers to hang out” at the world-renowned art museum. He called that program an example of what works.
“As far as increasing penalties, we know what criminalization does, particularly for more vulnerable communities. It has not led to creating safer spaces,” Johnson said. “We have to do what works. So I’m going to continue to call for the level of opportunity and investment. And when individuals act outside the confines… of the law, those individuals should be held accountable.”
Chicago already holds parents responsible for spray painting and graffiti by their kids. Lopez says that effort helps explain a “precipitous decline” in such vandalism.
He says he believes the situation would be the same if parents were held accountable for “willfully or knowingly” allowing a minor under their care to violate a broader array of crimes that include curfew violations; illegal drag racing; drifting or jumping on vehicles; illicit drug or alcohol use, and access to firearms or paintball guns.
His new version includes even stronger penalties for parents accused of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” who commits any one of those crimes. The parental fine would start at $1,000, which adults could avoid by opting for community service and family counseling at the parent’s expense.
But the fines could rise to $10,000 for the parents of repeat offenders and young people who use vehicles to create street takeover events. And the fines would double, then triple for the second and third offenses within a one-year period.
Lopez said he will try to suspend the rules for immediate consideration of the stronger ordinance. Lopez argued that the mere attempt will put his colleagues on the spot.
“It’ll be really a testament before the entire body just how committed we are to ensuring that we are breaking this cycle of youthful craziness in the city of Chicago by holding parents accountable for their children,” he said. “We have already seen this month just how wild and dangerous the streets have become, because we refuse to hold parents accountable and the youth accountable. I, for one… don’t want that on our hands.”