Council adopts juvenile curfew; critics urge repeal or revision of First Amendment permit rules

City Council on June 17 approved a city code amendment to add a juvenile curfew provision to chapter 21, section 21‑114, following committee approval and readings earlier in the spring. The council and police department said the ordinance will take effect on July 27 to allow training and public notice.

Councilman David Shealy, reporting out of the Public Safety Committee, said the committee approved the ordinance amendment and sent it forward for council reading. “We also had an ordinance to amend this code of the city of Charleston, South Carolina chapter 21 to add section 21‑114 to establish a juvenile curfew in the City of Charleston,” Shealy said during his committee report.

During the citizens’ participation portion of the meeting, multiple speakers urged council to reconsider or repeal a separate First Amendment demonstrations ordinance, which public commenters and civil‑liberties advocates said has been used to limit protests. Marcus McDonald, a community activist, said the curfew and the First Amendment demonstration rules would increase police interactions with young Black residents and urged council to vote the measures down. The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, represented by communications director Paul Bowers, told council the local demonstrations ordinance — enacted in February 2021 — has been applied in ways that “escalat[e] conflicts and criminaliz[e] speech.”

Dr. Bonnie Cleveland, chairing the Human Affairs and Racial Conciliation Commission, told council that the commission received public comments opposing the First Amendment ordinance and unanimously recommended that council object to the ordinance’s text and implementation. Speakers raised specific text and implementation concerns, including permit limits, restrictions on protest structures such as chairs or tents, and the discretionary denial or modification of permitted times or locations.

Mayor William S. Cogswell advised the council the police department expects the juvenile curfew to take effect on Friday, July 27 to allow time for training and public notice. The council approved the ordinance on third reading and the procedural record shows no roll‑call tally beyond the standard reading approval statement recorded in the public transcript.

Council’s public safety committee also considered an appeal about denial of a First Amendment permit and forwarded a recommendation for an alternate location (Hampton Park) to the special events committee; that matter remains subject to committee scheduling and administrative review. No formal vote to repeal or amend the First Amendment demonstrations ordinance occurred at the June 17 meeting; speakers asked council to revisit the ordinance in future legislation or committee work.