The D.C. Council passed a new, permanent youth curfew law Tuesday while failing to act on emergency legislation that would have immediately reinstated nighttime restrictions on young people as the District tries to get a handle on raucous, so-called teen takeovers rattling bustling areas such as Navy Yard and U Street.
Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto pulled the emergency version once it became clear it would not get the nine votes needed to pass.
The permanent measure, which only requires support from seven council members, passed on an 8-5 vote and states, with some exceptions, those under 18 “cannot remain in any public place or on the premises of any establishment” within D.C. The council allowed the previous emergency curfew to expire this spring, prompting Mayor Muriel Bowser to intervene with her own emergency, which expired May 1.
As with all D.C. laws, the new curfew will undergo a congressional review period once Bowser signs it, and won’t go into effect until late summer. The curfew will sunset at the end of 2028.
Under the new legislation, the permanent curfew would be in effect from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from June to September and from midnight to 6 a.m. in July and August. The bill also allows D.C. police to declare “extended juvenile curfew zones” on weekends, in which people under 18 are prohibited from gathering in groups of nine or more after 8 p.m.
Bowser urged the council to pass what she called the “common-sense public safety emergency legislation.” Bowser was referring to the emergency measure pulled by Pinto due to lack of support.
In her letter to D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, Bowser also asked the council to reject one of Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau’s amendments to the permanent version of the bill, which would prevent聽police from taking young people to the Youth Services Center for a curfew violation.
The council ultimately adopted the amendment before passing the legislation.
Bowser said the option was designed, in part, to link teenagers to services. She also said D.C. police don’t have the resources to provide home drop-off for teens who violate the curfew.
D.C.’s been wrestling with how to handle legislation surrounding the curfew, which has recently evolved to allow for the extended curfew zones following so-called teen takeovers.
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