NCJ Number
146274
Journal
Case Western Reserve Law Review Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 651-668
Date Published
1993
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The author examines the history of loitering laws and the constitutional challenges most commonly experienced.
Abstract
On June 17, 1991, the City of Chicago passed an ordinance that allows police to order persons reasonably believed to be gang members who are observed loitering on the City's streets to disperse. Failure to obey the order is a violation of the ordinance for which the loiterer may be arrested. This ordinance is expected to be challenged on constitutional grounds. The particular terms of the Chicago ordinance are examined in light of challenges to prior loitering laws. The ordinance should pass a constitutional challenge and be upheld as a legitimate and appropriate means by which to combat the problems of escalating violence and crime in American cities. After surveying vagrancy ordinances in the United States, the author examines laws generally prohibiting loitering, prostitution, and drug trafficking. The provisions of the Chicago ordinance are listed and analyzed. The author concludes that the Chicago gang loitering ordinance is a novel approach to the growing crime and violence of America's inner cities; it should not fail for constitutional vagueness or overbreadth. If the ordinance is nevertheless struck down, perhaps Americans should question whether the protection of individual constitutional rights should at some point be subordinated to the protection of our cities and communities.