E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSRegistered sex offenders in California are suing to block a Simi Valley law that would keep them from putting up Halloween decorations and require them to display a "No Candy or Treats" sign. WNBC's Ted Chen reports.
An attorney representing five Simi Valley sex offenders who sued the city over limits to their Halloween activities said the lawsuit will be the first of several she expects to file over such restrictions.
Lawyer Janice Bellucci heads the 18-month-old advocacy group California Reform Sex Offender Laws. On Friday, she filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that Simi Valley's ordinance violates her clients' First Amendment rights.
The suit seeks a judge's order prohibiting enforcement of the ordinance in Simi Valley, which has 119 registered sex offenders, according to a city report. Bellucci is representing five unnamed sex offenders, three of their spouses and two minor children, she said.
The ordinance, adopted Sept. 10, prohibits registered sex offenders in the Ventura County city of about 125,000 from displaying Halloween decorations, answering the door to trick-or-treaters or having outside lighting after dark on Oct. 31.
Simi Valley councilman and LAPD officer Mike Judge said the law is modeled after similar Halloween laws enforced in other California cities, and is meant to protect children.
"This law was generated by citizens asking the City Council to do something," Judge said. "And it didn’t seem unreasonable for the City Council to take it up.
"As far as I’m concerned, our law doesn’t go as far as other laws in the state of California and it still, in our opinion, protects our children a little bit better than not having it."
Registered sex offenders are also required to post signs with on their front doors reading, in 1-inch letters, "No candy or treats at this residence." Those offenders visible to the public on the state's Megan's Law website and convicted of a crime against a child are required to post the sign.
Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter
Sixty-seven of the city's offenders are listed on the website, according to a city report; the rest are convicted of misdemeanors and don't have their names on the public list.
Bellucci said the sign-posting requirement was "particularly egregious."
"We consider that to be a violation of the U.S. Constitution," Bellucci said Tuesday.
The ordinance both imposes "forced speech" – the sign – and restricts speech by prohibiting Halloween celebrations, she said.
"It's similar to Jews in Nazi Germany who had to wear the yellow star on their clothing," Bellucci said.
The Simi Valley measure is part of a trend of increasing strict restrictions on the activities of convicted sex offenders who have "paid their debt to society," Bellucci said.
Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com
Her organization intends to begin filing lawsuits to challenge other statutes, she said.
The office of Simi Valley City Attorney Marjorie Baxter said the city had not been served with Bellucci's complaint, so it had no comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
Baxter was quoted in the Ventura County Star, which first reported on the lawsuit, as saying: "We thoroughly researched the ordinance and I don't feel the lawsuit has any merit, and we will defend it vigorously."
At an Aug. 20 initial City Council hearing on the ordinance, a deputy city attorney told council members that "traditional trick or treat activities associated with Halloween provide have the potential to provide significant opportunities for sex offenders to victimize minors."
Also at NBCLosAngeles.com: Suit filed to fight gay conversion therapy law
Council members at that time expressed some concern about legal repercussions, as well as worries that residents who decide not to decorate will be thought by neighbors to be sex offenders.
The police chief told the council that he could find no records of a sex crime against a child on Halloween in Simi Valley.
Those who are convicted of violating the ordinance would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to six months in county jail, according to a city staff report.
California residents who have been convicted of or pleaded no contest or guilty to a sex-related offense must register with local public safety authorities. Offenders are listed on the registry for life.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Pedestrians, bicyclists beware in New York, Los Angeles
- Veterans angle for a overdue shout out during tonight's debate
- Report: Homeland Security 'fusion' centers spy on citizens, produce 'shoddy' work
- Woman rides wild manatee in Florida, turns herself in
- Video: Dangling base jumper rescued from cliff
Leave a Comment:
If felons are not allowed to own guns (2nd amendment), I really don't care about sex offenders and their 1st amendment rights.
First off these people broke the law by doing terrible things to children who could not defend themselves. Sex offenders are the lowest of the low. When found guilty they should be sent straight to a grave. They no longer have rights. Secondly if they want to decorate so badly, why not give them a big sign that they have to put in the front yard. It should state " I am a pervert and I rape/molest/kill children". Then let's see if they still want to decorate.
standing the sex offender up against the portable adobe wall and executing the problem would fix all of this issue .
first of all all rights need to go to children first. they need to be protected.
The only problem with the sex offenders law is there are people on the list that should not be on it.
you know like a 20 yr old charged with having sex with a 17 yr old. The list should be for child molesters and rape. and then they should have NO rights. just as they gave their victims. This lawyer should be fighting to change the law who is put on the list if she wants to do something.
BIG difference between wearing the star of david as a jew in nazi Germany or being a sex offender, why should they have the same rights as non criminals?? the only thing they should be treated to is a bullet in the back of the head or a rope from a very tall tree and this POS lawyer should be strung up along side of them.
So now when you take your kids trick or treating and the lights are off and you see the sign you will know that it's either the home of a child molester or a Jehovah's witness abode.
Or it might be an elderly person who does not want to be constantly having to get up and down to answer the door. It might be someone who is ill. It might be someone who does not want to restrain their pets whenever someone comes to the door. It might be someone who just can't afford a ton of candy to hand out. It might be a lot of things other than being the home of a sex offender.
The only give away might be the sign and I don't think that is necessary.
@william complaint against yard signs.
It's pointless to argue what you are trying to say. All Registered offenders are listed online for you to view. Watchdog for example not only shows you the address but also the picture and also the crimes they accused and found guilty of. I dont need a sign in the front yard, I already know who they are and what they look like and what they did.
"Bellucci is representing five unnamed sex offenders, three of their spouses"
Who the heck are these women married to these scumbags?
They may not be women nor human for that matter.
They may not be scumbags. They may have been a kid who slept with another kid and got put on that list..they may be someone who was accused of something they did not do. Not all people on that list are child molesters. maybe it was something that happened years ago that you don't know the circumstances to. Maybe they have children and a normal life and don't want to explain it to them. or expose them to this.
With the exception of having to post a sign on their doors, I have no problem with this ordinance. Just keep your lights off and don't answer the door. Many people in my neighborhood do this because they don't want to be constantly going to the door or having to restrain pets. They are not all pedophiles so I wouldn't know which ones are or are not.
If the sex offender has children, the other parent can take them trick or treating. Sorry, but the fact that you have "paid your debt to society" is not the only issue society has to deal with. It is not unreasonable for the rest of society to want to take steps to protect themselves from your already demonstrated behaviors.
The idea is not that a pedophile will grab a child on Halloween. The issue is that this creates an opportunity for a pedophile to meet children and probably their parents, start a conversation and begin to form relationships which give them access to children later. This is not about preventing "snatch and grab" assaults so much as its about preventing opportunities to start the "grooming" process. And any pedophile who objects to this common sense restriction given their past activity is very likely in denial of their potential to reoffend.
There should be a sign posted in front of the homes of Sex Offenders so people know where they are allowing their children to ask for Candy. These signs should remain up for 365 Days per year except for Leap Year and then for 366 Days. In Short "24/7"
plork, that was dumb. You definitely paid attention to that post and responded as well, so what does that say about you?
Plork - You need to ditch your pitchfork and eat some X lax dude, I read her post just fine. Yours however, I plan to ignore hence forth. the term Douche bag comes to mind.
What is it about this news site that brings out the ignorant conservative trolls who don't even bother reading the article?
Perhaps the sex offenders should just be left in prison. Oh wait where will we lock up nonviolent criminals and drug users? Once you let them out, they have rights - it's still America last time I checked.
No they don't, check your laws again trouble. Last time I checked it was the United States of America, you should also change that book you are referencing. There is no such country as America.
So let me get this straight...registered sex offenders that are pedophiles or knowingly had sex with a minor, have hired a lawyer to fight a law so they can put up decorations on halloween and encourage minors or little children to their house for some candy. C'MON MAN
In other news, a liberal lawyer is suing the state of California for putting violent criminals behind bars. "Locking someone up violates a person's first amendment right to free speech, since they have limited access to express their opinions while they are behind bars", said Lawyer Janice Bellucci, who is also suing the state to give convicted child molesters the right to give candy to children.
In my opinion, a sex offender's "debt" is NEVER "paid back to society". No amount of jail time can ever take away what happened to their victim!
Leave it to California to want to give sex offenders rights. lol!! I wouldn't live in that state for any reason. California should not even be part of the great country of America. They must elect mental cases to make the laws there. I can hardly wait for them to drop into the ocean. Yes, a good earthquake should take care of it... Why do the average people there put up with all the law suits? They must like paying for them.
They only pay for them if they lose, which contradicts your prediction of the outcome.
This story points out the need to change some of our sex offender statutes. No one that urinates in public should have this designation, nor should an 18 year old that gets in on with his 14 year old girlfriend be so labeled. Let's clarify this so a sex offender means exactly that and none of these designations go for what is not sex abuse!
You seemingly don't have a 14 year old daughter. An 18 year old should not be looking for kiddie sex from a 14 year old IMO. So I'd keep that law, besides at 18 one of them is an adult who should understand consequences. The 14 year old I would have much less expectations and would feel the need to protect them. Regarding urinating in public unless the person was publicly displaying their genitalia in a lewd manner while unrinating I don't really see this as an issue. How many people are incapable of peeing discretely...maybe if they are there is a reason we need to label them as a low level offender.
I have 4 daughters, and I think you've got selective amnesia. 14 year olds are very interested in sex, and 18 year olds don't think of themselves as adults yet, nor do we treat them like it (try and bring one into a bar sometime). To that 18 year old, the 14 year old is a peer, someone they go to school with. And guess what? That 14 year old girl of yours probably isn't interested in 14 year old boys, but that 18 year old, now he's something.
The problem here is that while violent rapists and pedophiles should be punished (and are), we throw all kinds of lesser offenders into the exact same boat, and treat them just as harshly. How can we make an 18 year old a registered sex offender for life when the states can't even agree on the age of consent? An 18 year old who has sex with a 16 year old is okay in WA or HI, but in CA he's a felon, and if he does it with his 16 year old girlfriend on vacation in CA that conviction and registry will still count back home in WA. A few years ago in Kansas the DA convicted an 18 y/o of sex with his 17 y/o GF. They'd had sex before he turned 18, and planned to marry. What changed? He turned a day older. And let's not even get into "date rape" and false accusations. Nowadays women can get a man convicted on her word alone. Innocence until proven guilty is so passe.
BTW, this is not a post for personal redemption. I've got 4 daughters and have been with their mom for 22 yrs. I have never committed, nor been accused of, well, ANY crime, sexual or otherwise. But I have had friends whose lives were unjustly destroyed by this culture's current frenzy over anything sexual.
There is no insult to the so-called Jewish Community to liken marking one group in a pejorative manner in a substantially identical example of marking another group in a pejorative manner. Your previous explanation or protest left some loose ends so please explain in a less blustering, emotional manner.
Regarding these registered sex offenders. If these people present the slightest danger to anyone, then the law is remiss not locking them up forever. If these people present no danger to anyone then leave then to live their lives. Don't be too cheap to incarcerate them if incarceration is called for. And if these people can't change what they are, then regard their condition as an illness and treat it as an illness.
That is an insult to the Jewish Commuity first off. Second, LOADS of people do not have their light on during Halloween because they are either gone or don't want the hassle of buying candy and distributing it. The community should counter-sue since it would violate the children's right to safety. If this is overturned there should be a stipulation stating they have to hang a sign stating they are a sex offender and then the public can make an informed decision. What is the world coming to when we have to kowtow to child molesters/criminals?
Actually, no one has a right to safety. That would be too vague and overreaching. It would constitutionally mandate things like the TSA, instead of that organization being just a simple mistake by the federal government. Perhaps the only thing the government cannot, and should not, promise is safety. Read the constitution please.
University of Chicago Student
Actually you are wrong. Your education have failed you. According to Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution. Which states "All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy."
So in regards to this article, MistyB's post, and in the state of California, you are dead wrong.
Here's your face palm.
You should be far more careful what you wish for. Since there is an increased incident of sex offenders being stalked and murdered (since by the nature of their crimes they are hated by society and their addresses are publicly available) they could make the argument that the sex offender registry itself is unconstitutional. Don't start up with constitutional law with me if you don't know what the hell you are talking about.
Enjoy your circlejerk.
If you were convicted of a crime against a child, you should have been executed.
I hope people see the signs in your yards and knock on your door and take care of you.
Rot in hell.
This is the lazy man's approach. Normally, what you should do is instead of writing your complaints about the law on an internet message board, you would write to your local congress person to change the penal laws regarding these crimes. Since the supreme court has declared your solution unconstitutional, you actually need to write your local congress person asking them to call for a constitutional convention whereby you can petition the members your state sends to amend the constitution to fit your goals.
This will do more good than what you are doing now. And if you have already done this, then I am a monkey's uncle.
If you don't already know the outcome of this case, and can't tell me exactly why that outcome will occur, you really don't deserve any rights yourself, and have no place in this society.
I am not interested in debating what the people on the sex offender list do and do not deserve; I am simply sick of simpletons not picking up on basic patterns of law and constitutional judgment. Figure your country out, or move please.
Student....... Stay in school please.
WTF are you kidding me if the judge allows these already convicted offenders near children they are nuts, what are you going to call it the second bite at the apple rule! Has this lawyer lost her mind or her sense of dignity
This "in between" stuff seems nuts. Either give registered sex offenders the right to live like anyone else, or lock them up permanently. Either they are capable of changing their ways, or they are not. If they pose a danger and can't be trusted to give out Halloween candy, then telling them to hang a sign on their door on Halloween is a poor response to the danger that they pose.
As an aside, we don't ask convicted and released drug dealers, thieves and murderers to announce their presence in communities, hang signs on their houses, or to stay away from banks or weapons, yet many of them are repeat offenders. Why are only sex offenders registered and "tracked"? Why can children go to the homes of other kinds of ex-cons for Halloween candy?
If you were convicted of a crime against a child, why are you still allowed to live??
I hope that these signs in your yards show the right people which houses to burn.
Rot in hell.
There are differences between those who sexually prey on kids and those who 'get it on' with their minor girl friend or urinate in some back alley. Does anyone here really need to be convinced of this?
Those proven to have sexually preyed on kids, people who really never change because they can't change, should be put behind the walls and wire of institutions for the criminally insane forever. They should only leave such institutions when they die. But this 'scarlet letter' crap and all the vigilantes is just puerile rot.
"There are differences between those who sexually prey on kids and those who 'get it on' with their minor girl friend"
Hmmmm.......Maybe you should expound upon that statement, "Who get it on with their minor girl friend". Otherwise that just makes you no different that those who sexually prey on kids.
A 19 year old that has sex with his 17 3/4 year old girlfriend who's ultra conservative parents freak out that their daughter has been removed from her "purity" and press charges.
In California, a 15 year old boy can have sex with a 14 year old girl and it's not considered statutory rape it's considered child molestation with anyone 14 years or younger. Tell me the boy is more responsible than the girl and deserves to be a registered sex offender for his entire life? Then 15 years down the road when he has a normal life a family and children of his own, lets make his life worse because now he can't celebrate Halloween with his family. Also he has to expose his whole family to further ridicule.
Similiar with the Nazi's and yellow stars for Jews?
NOT
EVEN
CLOSE!!
Then enumerating the things that make these NOT EVEN CLOSE should be easy.
Tom...if you aren't intelligent enough to "enumerate" the things that make these NOT EVEN CLOSE...then perhaps you should enumerate the things that make trolls (such as yourself) comparable to sex offenders (perhaps also an issue of yours).
Although I can understand everyone's concern for those who have ended up on the "umbrella" sex offender list but what about social responsibility. It's a shame if you've ended up on a list that links an "ok" citizen with dangerous criminals but that's the way it goes. If these "not so bad" offenders are really decent citizens than why not make the sacrifice to keep our children safe. Why the need to be so entitled at the expense of community safety?
Will simple justice be a good start for you?
Justice for which? Those wrongfully on the list or the children who were or may be victims?