CA: Halloween Sign Requirement GONE!
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has agreed to permanently eliminate on a statewide basis its requirement that registrants post a sign on their residences on Halloween. This agreement is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2015 by California RSOL and two individual plaintiffs in San Diego and Los Angeles.
“In the past, CDCR placed registrants they supervised and their loved ones in danger of significant harm, even death, by their requirement that registrants post a sign on their residence on Halloween,” stated ACSOL president Janice Bellucci. “This requirement applied not only to individuals who lived in houses and apartments, but also to individuals who lived in cars, tents and sleeping bags.”
As a result of CDCR’s agreement and two prior lawsuits, there is no requirement in the state of California that registrants post a Halloween sign on their residence. The prior lawsuits were filed against the City of Simi Valley in 2012 and the City of Orange in 2013.
“Past Halloween sign requirements were based upon the myth that registrants pose a danger to children on Halloween,” stated ACSOL vice president Chance Oberstein. “This myth has been debunked by several social scientists, who determined that no child has ever been harmed by a registrant on Halloween while trick-or-treating at a registrant’s residence.”
In the Simi Valley case, U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson granted a Temporary Restraining Order that stopped the city’s enforcement of its Halloween sign requirement. In his decision, Judge Anderson stated, “The public interest is not served — indeed, it is undermined — by enforcement of an unconstitutional law singling out a discrete, outcast group to speak in such a way that their persons, property, and loved ones may be endangered.
Judge Anderson also ruled, “Because the impact on the public of enjoining this section of the Halloween Ordinance (sign requirement) is likely to be negligible, the Court finds that a temporary restraining order is in the public interest.”
We can clearly see that even just a smidgen of fight in the court can have substantial impact. This is why donating to the legal fund is important. When you donate, you’re just giving back to yourself or the registrant you care about. Even if you can only donate $2/month, do it. Foregoing as little as a candy bar each month by everyone reading this article would amount to a lot, every single month, that FAC could count on to put into battle. Donate $5, $10, $25 per month? Even better. Every cent counts, people. If you have a debit or credit card, they have monthly automatic donations. If you have a checking account usually you can setup automatic checks through billpay service. If you have neither, mail the darn thing. Yes there is still a postal service!
When we all, everyone reading this, takes this seriously and sacrifices just a little, collectively it’s huge. HUGE!
Amen! And thanks for saying it instead of me. I feel like such a beggar asking for contributions to our legal fund and I hate doing it, but 100% of the money goes to these fights and it’s the only way it happens. You’d be surprised how much a small monthly donation makes a difference!
So please tell me there’s going to be a lawsuit filed in Florida on this real soon now that judges have legal precedent to look at. I would even like to see if we can file a lawsuit in Jacksonville against the ordinance that has the Halloween requirement and even goes above to include banning Christmas lights. This is also a violation of First Amendment rights to freedom of religious expression. If I’m a wiccan, you’re restricting my religious right by banning Halloween decorations, and especially for a Christian wanting to celebrate Christmas or Easter. I just wanna see Florida go down the same way that California is going down with all of this. And yes, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. Thing is, I’m working 3 jobs just to survive and pay bills, so I’ll do what I can.
If you can organize a group in your area to challenge (and fund) a lawsuit, we’ll put it together.
fac-admin, I am one of the county coordinators for Duval and am still “learning the ropes” as they say. I am also working 3 jobs just to make it. So I am willing to help organize a lawsuit (challenge), but how do we do it, and about how much would the legal fees/challenge cost?
Another win! Let’s keep it rolling! Is the duval county enactment being challenged? If not, please contact me.
Contact your Duval County Coordinator and get together a group of individuals who are interested and able to pool together some plaintiffs and some cash for the attorney, filing fees, service, deposition costs, etc. and we’ll make it happen. There’s less than 2 months before Halloween!!!
We’ll get the pleadings CA RSOL filed and adopt them to Florida law and updated stats and fast track a filing.
Duval should organize this quickly!!! Last year we put up this post: http://floridaactioncommittee.org/rsos-in-jacksonville-be-prepared-to-get-new-restrictions/ and NOBODY stepped up. Make this year the year you decide to do something!
I am one of the coordinators for Duval. I am trying to get a feel for the position and am working my butt off just to try and pay bills and live. So I probably am not doing as good of a job as I should, but oh well. I would love to try and challenge this, but don’t have much money. But let’s see what we can do.
There are over 1000 registrants in Duval.
If 10% of them put in $100 each, you’d likely be there.
Just started my monthly donation for legal challenges!