A professor in California asserts there are likely no constitutional grounds that would give sex offenders the right to participate in Halloween activities.
Sex offenders in Simi Valley are suing the city for limiting what they claim are their First Amendment rights to display Halloween decorations, open the door for trick-or-treaters, and display festive lighting after dark on October 31. The lawsuit asks a judge to reject the law that bars sex offenders from participating in Halloween activities. The sex offenders are represented by Janice Bellucci, who heads the group California Reform Sex Offenders Laws.
Ronald D. Rotunda, distinguished professor of jurisprudence at Chapman University's school of law, further explains the reasoning behind the law.
"I think it's unlikely to be unconstitutional for the state or the city to prohibit sex offenders from handing out candy to little kids," he states.
"It seems like we often have rules that prevent them from hanging around playgrounds and things like that, but if they don't answer the door and don't give out candy, sex offenders have a better argument."
Bellucci argues that the ban is similar to Nazi Germany, when Jews were forced to wear a yellow star on their clothing. Rotunda disagrees.
"This restriction is not on people who the state thinks are sex offenders or on people who are Jewish," he says. "It's on people who have been convicted of a heinous crime."
During a city council meeting in August, officials decided that allowing sex offenders to participate in Halloween activities would give them an opportunity to further victimize minors.