Can you believe Halloween is next week? Retailers have even
begun stocking Christmas decorations. Crazy, yeah, but let’s deal with
Halloween first which is not a fun time of year for all. Safety and protecting
children is always on parents’ minds. One topic that comes up every year is the
identification of sexual predators in the community and whether or not such
identification infringes on that person’s safety and rights.
Throughout the U.S., states have programs that
prohibit registered sex offenders from participating in Halloween activities
such as decorating or passing out candy. Many require that offenders notify the
public by placing a sign on their residence indicating that they have no candy.
MD Dept of Parole and Probation, who manages the Sex Offender Registry, has had
a similar policy since 2005.
On October 14, 2015, A Federal lawsuit was filed
in California claiming that such laws violate the First
Amendment and puts sex offenders on parole in danger. The argument being
that the signs compel speech and identify offenders who have no means to
protect themselves due to not being able to possess firearms.
In 2012, Sex offenders in Simi Valley, CA successfully
challenged a city ordinance in Federal Court citing a violation of their First
and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Lawyers for the group California Reform Sex
Offender Laws, CA RSOL, filed a lawsuit in Federal court during September 2013.
That suit alleged that the city of Orange is violating sex offenders First
Amendment rights by requiring the posting of signs on Halloween night. Lawyers
felt that the ordinance placed sex offenders at risk. They also cited that
there had not been a documented incident of a sex offender harming a child on
Halloween night.
However these cases play out in court, nothing protects
our children more than being involved. Chaperone your children, know where they’re
going. Watch for and report suspicious activity.
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