No Apparent Purpose

The City of Chicago, alarmed by criminal street gangs that established control over public areas by massing on sidewalks, enacted the Gang Congregation Ordinance. It provided that if a police officer observed a person he reasonably believed to be a criminal street gang member loitering in a public place with one or more other persons, he could order them all to disperse; anyone who did not promptly obey committed a criminal offence punishable by fine, imprisonment, and community service. The ordinance defined loiter as to remain in any one place with no apparent purpose. In roughly three years the police issued tens of thousands of dispersal orders and made over 42,000 arrests under the law. A number of those arrested — including the Defendant and others — were convicted, and they challenged the ordinance as unconstitutionally vague. The question was whether a law that made it a crime to remain in any one place with no apparent purpose after a police order to move gave ordinary people fair notice of what was forbidden and adequately limited the discretion of the police.