Indianapolis may make more restrictive curfew hours than state’s

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis city councilors, poised to meet Monday night just days after a downtown mass shooting killed two teens and injured five other people, faced several issues, including a new proposal to make the youth curfew more restrictive than Indiana’s.

In addition, a new call was made for the two leaders of the council to step down, and a disgruntled councilor announced minutes before the meeting that she’s leaving the Democratic caucus.

Curfew times to change?

Democrat Leroy Robinson, the leader of the City-County Council’s criminal justice committee, intended on Monday night to introduce a proposal to change the hours of the city’s youth curfew.

Indiana’s curfew law says children ages 15-17 may not be in a public place between 1 a.m. Saturdays and Fridays until 5 a.m. the next day; or from 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays to 5 a.m. the next day.

Robinson’s proposal would make it illegal for children ages 15-17 to be in a public place from 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturday to 5 a.m. the next day, and from 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays to 5 a.m. the next day.

Essentially, Robinson’s proposal would take ages 15-17 of the streets two hours earlier than state law allows.

Sara Hindi, chief communications officer for the Indianapolis City-County Council, shared the proposal via email about 6 minutes before the meeting was set to begin. As of 7:45 p.m., the proposal had not yet been posted on the council’s webpage that publicly shares proposals.

The state law makes exceptions for a juvenile accompanied by a parent, guardian, or custodian or adult; for a juvenile accompanied by an adult specified by a parent, guardian or custodian; or a juvenile participating in, going to, or returning from work, a school-sanctioned activity, a religious event, an emergency involving the protection of a person or property from an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or substantial damage, or an activity involving the exercise of the juveniles engaging in the Constitution’s freedom of speech or the right of assembly.

The law also make exceptions for a juvenile participating in an activity conducted by a nonprofit, education, training or other care under the supervision of an adult; a juvenile participating in an activity with the prior written consent of the juvenile’s parent, guardian or custodian; or a juvenile traveling from outside Indiana to another location outside Indiana.

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Leadership challenge

Democrat Jesse Brown introduce a motion to start the process to remove Democrat Vop Osili as council president and Ali Brown as vice president. He noted on a TikTok post before the meeting that his proposal “will require other councilors to step up.”

A motion to vote on Brown’s proposal failed Monday night.

In February, Democrats removed Brown from their caucus. Brown represents District 13, which covers a portion of the near east side between Delaware Street and Emerson Avenue.

Embattled councilor leaves Democratic caucus

Councilor Crista Carlino, who last month stepped down from heading the council’s investigative committee looking into allegations of sexual harassment in the administration of Mayor Joe Hogsett. said Monday night she’s leaving the Democratic caucus.

A report from a Chicago firm to the committee had found city leaders did nothing illegal.

Carlino is one of four councilors who have asked for Mayor Joe Hogsett to resign amid allegations of sexual harassment in his administration. Carlino in June had expressed her concerns about the scope of the investigation, believing certain search terms and people were being left out. She emphasized that her calls for Hogsett’s resignation were made with the accusers and the city’s workforce in mind, not for political motives.

She and the caucus had some sort of discord in June, and she issued an apology and remained on the caucus.

Before the meeting, she said in an interview with the news media, “I will not be caucusing with either party for the foreseeable future and I think that’s the best decision for me at this time. It’s unfortunate, but, for me, lack of leadership, abuse of power, and an inequitable application of the caucus rules really led me to make this decision, and I feel that I’m justified in stepping away for that reason.”

Harassment investigators get more money

The council voted to give $300,000 in additional city funds to Chicago law firm Fisher Phillips, which had already been paid $500,000 for its seven-month investigation of sexual harassment allegations in the Hogsett administration. The investigation came amid harassment complaints against former Hogsett Chief of Staff Thomas Cook. The law firm’s report found the mayor and his administration did not break any laws or policies at the time.

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