Janice’s Journal: Halloween Hope

R H

Halloween will be here in only two days.  And this year, there is Halloween hope for registrants.

For decades, the public has applied its knee jerk and emotional response to registrants on Halloween.  That response has been based, in large part, by articles in the media that falsely warned that registrants pose a great danger on that holiday.

Never mind that the greatest danger on Halloween is a child being hit by a car while trick or treating.  Never mind that there has only been one substantiated report of a trick or treater being harmed by a registrant and that took place in 1973.   Never mind that registrants and their children are placed at significant risk of harm by local and state laws that require Halloween signs on their homes.

Researcher Elizabeth Letourneu has compared the idea of children being assaulted by a registrant on Halloween to the myth of tainted candy or apples with razor blades.  And she has added that Halloween laws applied to registrants don’t keep kids safe and distract from things, like prevention, that society should be funding instead.

These and other statements questioning the validity of Halloween laws applied to registrants can be found in a new article published by USA Today newspaper.  We can only hope that the seven million readers of that newspaper begin to question not only Halloween restrictions, but other restrictions as well, that are applied to registrants.

The USA Today article also brings hope in its reporting of lawsuits won by registrants who have challenged Halloween restrictions.  The most recent lawsuit, filed in Missouri, was won by a registrant including favorable decisions in federal court issued by both the trial court and the appellate court.  And when a petition was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court asking that those decisions be reviewed, the U.S. Supreme Court said no.

Further, the USA Today article described additional legal victories by registrants who challenged Halloween laws in the states of California, Arkansas, Georgia and Alabama.  The battle is not yet over.  There are still Halloween laws in many cities and some states.  The difference is we now have momentum on our side.    

ACSOL is ready to represent registrants in any jurisdiction that currently requires  Halloween signs.  The only missing element are individuals willing to serve as a plaintiff.  Please let ACSOL know if you are willing to serve in that capacity.

Click here to contact ACSOL

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