The Simi Valley City Council unanimously agreed tonight to repeal its Halloween Ordinance which required the city’s registrants to post a sign on the front door of their homes as well as prohibited them from decorating their homes, answering the door to trick-or-treaters and illuminating any exterior lights. The City Council vote was taken without discussion or debate, however, the City Attorney recommended repeal of the ordinance prior to the meeting due to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a registrant and his family who reside in Simi Valley.
“The City Council wisely decided to repeal its Halloween Ordinance tonight,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Registrants and their families will now be able to exercise their constitutional rights and celebrate this important holiday together.”
The City of Simi Valley was first sued in 2012 for its Halloween Ordinance. A federal judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order that prohibited the City from enforcing its sign requirement that year. The City of Simi Valley soon thereafter entered into a formal Settlement Agreement which included a provision that the city would not enforce its sign requirement in the future.
Despite entering into the Settlement Agreement, the City of Simi Valley distributed copies of the Halloween Ordinance, including the sign requirement, to registrants during the years 2013 through 2017. According to city officials, compliance with the Halloween Ordinance was voluntary, however, neither the fliers that contained the information nor the police officers who distributed the fliers made such statements.
The City of Simi Valley has agreed to notify all registrants by certified mail that the ordinance has been repealed.
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Congratulations to Janice and all registrants in Simi Valley (especially the plaintiff here)! It’s the victories like these that will hopefully pave the way for greater battles in the future. To the registrants of Simi Valley, may I be the first to wish you a very Happy Halloween!🎃
Congratulations Janice and all!
The cowards in Simi Valley couldn’t honor an agreement, so now they lost the ENTIRE ordinance. Good riddance!
These sort of ordinances sound good to the public. If you asked any city council member to cite a case of sexual abuse stemming from someone passing out candy, you would get a blank stare. Sexual abuse is typically perpetrated by someone very familiar to the victim. This is what the statistics show. We need a honest conversation about this topic instead of chasing the boogeyman. Darkness to Light d2l.org is an organization that has a real solution. And treatment for the abuser is the other approach.
The humiliating signs, the faces on the websites, the presence restrictions is the WRONG approach. These methods cause MORE harm!!
The sensation wins elections,brings forth dumb ordinances and sounds good to the uneducated, but does nothing to solve the problem.
It happened to me and my daughter. I want real solutions. Thank you Janice for beating back this sort of useless and harmful ordinance. It is NOT the solution.
Does this mean all other cities will fall in line with this ruling? I live in La Verne and they have a similar ordinance, where SO’s cant have lights on or decorations. We cant hand out candy either.
Great news! The hurt they inflicted will still go unpunished. Maybe not I’m sure their misguided selfish pride must be hurt. I will do as I have allows done throughout my life. Turn off the light as I never celebrated Halloween as a child. Would like to see the council take on a challenge. “BAN HALLOWEEN IN THE CITY OF SIMI VALLEY”
Well, it’s amazing how things can look so differently now! A few years back, we where banned from parks and beaches! We even had one man lose his job because of this!
Now, we have passed a new law bridging a way out! Stay positive. One battle at a time!
Cheers Janice, and thanks to the courageous registrant that stood up to fight.
We have nearly the same laws in Missouri. This is state law. How do we go about challenging it? On what grounds was the lawsuit filed and can this be replicated if it’s state law and not a local ordinance? Law is outlined below:
n 2010, Missouri lawmakers passed a new piece of legislation aimed at protecting trick-or-treaters from convicted sex offenders on Halloween night. The law requires registered sex offenders to stay inside their homes between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 10:30 pm. with all exterior lighting turned off. They must also post signs on their door stating that no candy will be available to trick-or-treaters at their home.
Wow, the press sure is having a heyday with this one. Radio, TV, print. The latest is that all the RSO’s will now be running around rampant in Simi Valley on Halloween. Advising everyone to make sure and check Megans Law Web site, so you can make sure and avoid the “unmarked houses”. One TV reporter did mention (at the very end) of the report “according to records, no one has ever been arrested or charged on Halloween, for assault or any other related crime”.
Yep, chicken little and the big bad wolf all in one. I didn’t even know they still had ordinances like this on the books. I wonder, does Sacramento have any of these or other ordinances that I should know about? More fodder….
Who’s telling you you can’t do Halloween? Are you on probation, parole?
MikeR, your comments are truly immature. Who don’t we celebrate and demonstrate the fact that we are grateful for this win and appreciate the hard work and dedication!