A U.S. federal judge ruled on Wednesday, Oct. 2, that a Missouri law requiring sex offenders to post warning signs for trick or treaters is unconstitutional. Under Missouri law, convicted sex offenders are mandated to keep outside lights off, stay inside and put up signs saying that they had “no candy” to handout at their homes on Halloween night.
Now, the sign requirement can no longer be enforced by law enforcement throughout the state this Halloween.
The judge’s decision to toss the provision came after Missouri resident Thomas Sanderson, a registered sex offender, filed a lawsuit last year arguing that being forced to put out the warning violated his right to free speech.
Police arrested Sanderson after Halloween in 2022, saying that he put out a large Halloween display and handed out candy to kids.
Sanderson claimed that he was told by authorities in 2006 and 2012 the statute didn’t apply to him because his crime happened before the law was enacted in 2008, and he said that he never had a problem legally before 2022.
Sanderson pleaded guilty to one charge of failure to comply with the Halloween restrictions.
Missouri’s attorney general opposed the effort to overturn the provision, arguing that the law isn’t a violation of First Amendment rights because the state’s duty is to protect vulnerable kids.
Sanderson’s lawyer said there are already protections in the law for children, and she said that parents “should check” sex offender registries “themselves” and “take responsibility.”
