I do believe that if the ACLU would get involved this would be an easy win. Local townships and their boards have no jurisdiction to tell someone what they can or cannot wear (i.e., criminalize), allowing for being decent in public, esp. based on a prior criminal conviction; ex post facto issues open up here. They simply cannot control what a person wears!
10-9-2009 Florida:
The St. Johns County Commission passed an ordinance Tuesday barring sexual offenders and predators from participating in certain holiday activities.
The ordinance, which makes no distinction between sexual predators and offenders, prohibits both offenders and predators from participating in holiday activities that would present increased opportunities to gain and violate the trust of children in St. Johns County.
"This is not intended to create any false sense of security. Parents still have to be aware and alert," said Commissioner Mark Miner who spearheaded the effort to pass the ordinance. "This simply giving a tool and a resource to the professionals that we task with the very difficult mission of preserving the safety and quality of life for our children and citizens in general."
According to the ordinance sex offenders are required to avoid all Halloween related contact with children, post a sign at their residence stating "No candy or treats at this residence," leave all outside residential lighting off during the evening hours and are not allowed to display any exterior decorations that would attract or entice children to the residence.
This is Fear-Mongering under the guise of authority! Clearly this Commission has not read Dr. Levenson's latest study showing that, over a 9-year period and millions of crimes, there have not been any halloween crimes related to trick and treating, anywhere in the nation.
In addition to Halloween the ordinance includes other holidays. The language of the ordinance originally read that offenders could not wear a Santa Claus or Easter Bunny costume but the language was changed to prohibiting costumes in general.
Commissioner Cyndi Stevenson questioned whether the ordinance was too broad including the less dangerous sexual offenders with sexual predators.
"I think that including the offenders and the predators on here is not appropriate," said Stevenson. "Predators are clearly a different class than the offenders. I think there’s a tendency to ostracize people for these things and the labels --- remain for a very long time."
Commissioner Miner disagreed.
"While there are a lot of people that may be classified as an offender that may have had a lighter crime, there are also a lot of crimes within that class that are not appropriate. Florida statutes determine those things. I don’t think it’s at our discretion or [it’s] our place to identify it here," said Miner. "I have a terrible opinion of sexual offenders and predators, in fact I’m going to go ahead and say I think convicted sexual predators should be executed in America. I don’t think that’s going to happen. But this is us doing what we can within the parameters of state and federal law to make a difference and provide an extra tool."
Lynda Mobley with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office told commissioners the ordinance would give authorities and additional tool to help protect children.
"There are a limited number of offenders on probation. They have no stipulations. They can pass out candy, they can decorate there homes, they can dress up and have full participation and full access to our children," said Mobley. "We get calls over and over from the public at this point in time especially at Halloween because the offenders are having kids come up to their homes. They are engaging in activities and the citizens do not feel comfortable with. This is a small thing we can do to help protect are children."
Mobley said excluding sexual offenders would not work.
"We have less than 10 predators in the county at this time. If we pass it only for the predators it’s not going to be as effective," said Mobley.
The ordinance passed unanimously but before the vote, County Attorney Pat McCormack said because this type of ordinance was "cutting edge" it would likely face legal challenges.
"For the record, there are several states that already have this type of legislation," said McCormack. "There is a federal case pending in Missouri where a district judge ruled and found some parts of a similar ordinance valid and some parts invalid."
The Missouri case McCormack referred to Tuesday, which also banned sex offenders and predators from certain Halloween activities, was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The Ponte Vedra Recorder called the Florida chapter of the ACLU for comment on the St. Johns County ordinance Wednesday. A spokesperson for the ACLU of Florida who requested not to be identified said that the legal team would not be able to make a comment until it had further reviewed the ordinance. ..Source.. by Shane Griffis
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