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We, the undersigned organizations, write to commend the Chicago City Council members who voted “no” and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s principled decision to veto the snap curfew ordinance. This veto protects the youth of this city, and is a commitment that this city will not use archaic, disproven, and racist tactics to criminalize our youth, target Black and brown working class communities, and threaten constitutional rights. We’d rather invest in public safety solutions that actually work. Mayor Johnson and the alderpeople who stood against this ordinance were elected to champion young and working class people, and to cut through the noise of City Hall – this veto reaffirmed that.
We need leaders who learn from history, especially at a time when President Donald Trump is issuing orders to “unleash policing” and rolling back gains of the Civil Rights Movement. We reject reinventing failed policies like “the War on Drugs.” We don’t need to pass the next version of the “gang loitering” ordinance that was deemed unconstitutional, and we don’t need to give more responsibilities and scope onto the police while putting our communities at risk. We need to invest in solutions that work and that give us the care and resources that we need and deserve. We thank those alders who voted “no,” and the mayor, for being leaders who are charting the path out of this decades-long war on our young people.
Let’s be clear. This snap curfew ordinance was not only a disproven tool of policing; it was fiscally and legally irresponsible. The passage and use of this ordinance would have opened up the city to litigation and would have cost this city millions of dollars – funds that could be used towards real public safety solutions in our wards.
For those who voted “yes” to this defunct tactic of “public safety,” ready to waste millions of tax dollars on litigation fees and settlements for an unconstitutional ordinance, we hope that you bring this same energy into funding solutions that actually work when budget season comes around: investing in youth jobs, programming, third spaces, and peacekeeping; scaling our non-police crisis response across the city, opening public mental health centers in every police district, investing in public health capacity, and creating more affordable and low-income housing. These are the “tools” that work, not snap curfews.
Our young people are not a prop for political theater. They are the heart, present, and future of Chicago. It’s time that we end this war on our children, and instead invest in their wellbeing.
Thank you to the following alders, and Mayor Johnson, for standing with young people and our communities:
- Daniel La Spata (1)
- Lamont Robinson (4)
- Desmon Yancy (5)
- Will Hall (6)
- Julia Ramirez (12)
- Jeylu Gutierrez (14)
- Jeanette Taylor (20)
- Ronnie Mosley (21)
- Michael Rodriguez (22)
- Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25)
- Jessie Fuentes (26)
- Walter Burnett (27)
- Jason Ervin (28)
- Chris Taliaferro (29)
- Ruth Cruz (30)
- Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33)
- Anthony Quezada (35)
- Andre Vasquez (40)
- Angela Clay (46)
- Matt Martin (47)
- Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48)
- Maria Hadden (49)
In solidarity,
GoodKids MadCity
Southside Together
Palenque LSNA
Equity And Transformation
Brighton Park Neighborhood Council
Public Health & Safety Coalition
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Legal Action Chicago
290IPO
ACCTION Team
Raise Your Hand Illinois
Illinois Families for Public Schools
Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition & Solidarity (MAMAS)
Shriver Center on Poverty Law
The People’s Lobby
Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Indivisible Chicago Alliance
American Friends Service Committee
AFGE Local 704
Collaborative for Health Equity Cook County
ONE Northside
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago
Asian American Midwest Progressives
Liberation Library
Chicago United for Equity
People’s Unity Platform
Grassroots Collaborative
United Working Families
Mientras Haya Amor Hay Esperanza
Chicago United Solidarity Project (CUSP)
The Southwest Collective
Northside Action for Justice
Free2Move Coalition
Health & Medicine Policy Research Group
Nikkei Uprising
Alternatives
Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA)
Westside Justice Center
Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition
A Just Harvest
44th Ward Neighbors for Community & Justice
United Northwest Side
Chicago Women Take Action
50th Ward United Working Families
United Neighbors of the 26th Ward
33rd Ward Working Families
Ujimaa Medics
Chicago Housing Initiative
Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE)
1st Ward United
Citizen Action/Illinois
Equiticity
Animal Defense League – Chicago
Children’s Best Interest Project
Sana Healing Collective
People’s Response Network
SoapBox Productions and Organizing
Lucy Parsons Lab
Organizing White Men for Collective Liberation – Chicago
LYTE Collective
Illinois Harm Reduction & Recovery Coalition
