By Sandy . . . In the many years that we have been tracking Halloween, this one fits the pattern of the past few years.

There were the semi-frequent media and sheriff’s offices who were warning—and scaring—parents about people on sex offender registries grabbing trick-or-treaters, a danger that research indicates has never existed. But the days of Patch “red-dot” maps from coast to coast are gone. A couple of Patch editors in Illinois are hanging on with their “Halloween Safety Maps,” but the dots are blue now, and the articles mitigate some of the fearmongering with the inclusion of a few of the actual facts, such as, “Law enforcement officials and researchers caution that the registries can play only a limited role in preventing child sexual abuse and stress that most perpetrators are known to the child.”

For as many as possible, we responded to media articles and Facebook posts with this message:

Are you aware that any connection between persons on the registry and increased sexual harm to children at Halloween has been totally debunked.? It was an invented construct to begin with. Such a connection has never existed.

You are in a unique position to help make a difference. Instead of writing about something that has never—as far as we are able to determine–harmed any children, write about something that harms, even kills, children every Halloween.

Write about the need for law enforcement to double–and triple–down their foot patrols and crossing guards in high traffic and trick-or-treat areas rather than checking if registered individuals have their lights on. Write about the need for increased sobriety-check traffic stops on Halloween. Write about something that is a real problem, that could save lives, that could make a real difference.

We sent over a dozen emails to reporters and comments on Facebook pages. We received back one reply from a supervising editor wanting more information about our organization.

All of that is the good news.

The bad news is that a more sinister pattern also played out. Trick-or-treating children are several times more likely to be involved in an altercation with an automobile Halloween evening and night. When this occurs, the child seldom emerges unscathed.

In San Antonio, Texas, a truck driver jumped the curb and crashed into a parked vehicle, then striking a group of trick-or-treaters. According to the law enforcement officer on the scene, “By the grace of God, you know, this wasn’t a whole lot worse.” Most of the pedestrians jumped out of the way. A young child received minor injuries and was taken to the hospital with her mother who had more serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The driver fled the scene but was soon apprehended and determined to be intoxicated.

A juvenile was hit while trick-or-treating in Colonial Heights, Virginia. The child was crossing the street, where candy was seen scattered after he was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver stayed there.

Two young children were critically injured Halloween night while trick-or-treating in Tracey, California and remain critical Saturday morning. The driver remained at the scene.

Charlotte County, Florida, reports, “. . . a serious hit-and-run involving three people trick-or-treating on Friday night.” The injured pedestrians include a teenager and a child who were injured and taken to local hospitals. The driver fled the scene but was soon found and arrested. The area where this happened is described as a “. . . heavy trick-or-treat area.”

A trick-or-treating 13-year-old boy was struck by a car in Portland, Oregon. He sustained serious injuries, and as of the morning of November 1, his prognosis is unclear. The driver remained at the scene.

This is a mixed bag: The good news is that no children were killed outright. The bad news is that seven children were hit by automobiles while they were trick-or-treating and two or more remain in serious or critical condition.

Now the bad, bad news: Before Halloween, media and law enforcement  focus on persons required to register as the way to keep trick-or-treaters safe.

This is in spite of evidence showing zero trick-or-treating children harmed or killed by registrants. Ever. Anywhere.

Neither media nor law enforcement focus enough on a real, actual danger kids face Halloween evening and night across the nation: an increased risk of being hit by an automobile and injured or killed. Some media articles do. Fewer law enforcement offices do.

If this were an equation, in most states it would look like this:

Definite risk of children being harmed Halloween night = <10% allotment of resources; zero risk (based on past 40 years) of children being harmed Halloween night = >75% allotment of resources.

As an ironic sidenote, just as the message is everywhere that there is no connection between persons on sex offender registries and increased risk of sexual harm to children at Halloween, a legislator in Kentucky is proposing that persons on the state registry be forbidden from participating in Halloween activities. Whenever I hear nonsense like this, I remember a question I was asked a long time ago by a registrant. “Why is it that it is fine if I bob for apples with my grandchildren on October 30^th and on November 1^st,” he asked, “but if I do it on October 31^st, I am breaking the law and could go to prison?”

I could not answer his question then, and I cannot answer it now.

The post A good news, bad news Halloween first appeared on NARSOL.

By Sandy . . . NARSOL is pleased to report that our efforts to end the practice of “No-candy” Halloween warning signs have borne fruit in Louisiana. This outcome is a direct result of the precedential case in Georgia NARSOL sponsored, McClendon v. Long.

A week before Halloween, 2023, NARSOL made the determination that three specific parishes in Louisiana were requiring everyone on the sex offender registry within their jurisdictions to post “No candy at this residence” signs on their house; in their yard; or, in one of the three, on the public easement directly in front of their residences. There are without question more parishes in Louisiana engaging in this practice, but for a variety of reasons—phone calls not returned; no one knowing the information or even who to ask; getting the information too late—only three were definitively identified in time for the next phase of the plan: Beauregard, St. Bernard and St. Tammany.

A letter addressed to the three sheriffs was prepared informing them that nothing in Louisiana law gave them the authority to take such action. They were reminded of the outcome of NARSOL’s legal action in 2019 against a sheriff in Georgia who persisted in placing very similar signs after we sent him a very similar letter; the Eleventh Circuit found against him, and, as the losing party, he not only was required to cease placing Halloween signs at registrants’ homes but also was required to pay attorney fees and expenses. Our letters asked the Louisiana sheriffs to abandon their plans to place the signs and to contact NARSOL within 24 hours as time before Halloween was short.

Emails were prepared bearing the same message as the letters, and the letters were printed on NARSOL letterhead and made ready for postal delivery.

The emails were sent and the letters were taken to the post office and mailed for two-day delivery on Thursday, the 26^th. The mailing was timed to arrive on Monday, the 30^th, the day before Halloween.

We received no response at all to our emails and were prepared to receive none from the mailed letters.

We received notification that the letters were delivered as planned on Monday, October 30.

And then we received a surprise telephone call. The sheriff of Beauregard Parish called to let us know that his office would not be placing the signs as planned. He said that the practice “used to be” allowed in the Louisiana statutes (we were unable to verify that) and that he thought it was still the law, but now that he knew it wasn’t, he would discontinue the practice.

Today is Halloween. We have received no notification from St. Bernard or St. Tammany Parishes. We could still hear from them before trick-or-treating begins. They may choose not to place the signs without notifying us. That will be determined.

At this point, we assume one parish is not going to place the signs and two parishes are.

One out of three isn’t too bad. Most baseball players would be pleased to have a .333 batting average.

Records show somewhere between 100 and 130 on the registry in Beauregard Parish. That is up to 130 registrants and their families who won’t have signs on or in front of their homes, signs that, for all practical purposes, announce by implication to anyone driving by that a registered sexual offender lives there; that further separate and ostracize them from the society that they are expected to integrate in to; that violate their constitutional rights by forcing them to carry the government’s message; and that make them potential targets for damage to their property and harm to themselves.

However, St. Bernard and St. Tammany Parishes have, between them, close to 600 registrants, with the vast majority in St. Tammany. That means that those registrants, those families, those children with parents (or themselves, as young as fourteen) on the registry are subject to the ostracization, the constitutional violations, the fear that the Halloween signage brings.

We have months to verify which parishes in Louisiana carried out the placement of these signs, months to look at counties in other states where rogue sheriffs, in violation of the state laws that they have sworn to uphold, have taken it upon themselves to enforce a non-existent law.

Months before next Halloween when they will receive warning from NARSOL, not the day before but well, well in advance of Halloween itself.

The post Some good Halloween news from Louisiana first appeared on NARSOL.

By Kyle . . . Halloween is soon upon us, and that means the scare tactics of the deranged sex offender gestapo will be on full display.  News organizations publish maps with red pins in the homes of persons forced to register; some go to these homes and ring doorbells with lights and cameras rolling; sheriffs order registrants to put warning signs in their yards; and, the worst, a sheriff in Georgia orders (unconstitutionally) registrants to report to the sheriff’s office for the duration of the evening.  Can we say, “illegally detained?” All in the name of protecting our kids. From what exactly?  Can anyone point to an increase in sexual offenses against children on Halloween?  Or even one reported incident?  No?  How interesting. What we can point to is a 3x increase in auto-child pedestrian accidents on Halloween.  And many of these involve impaired (read drunk and/or high) drivers.

While abolishing the registries is our goal, and one that we hope will occur sooner rather than later, perhaps we should float the idea, all in the name of protecting children, of requiring anyone ever convicted of driving impaired to be on a public registry. They should have to put warning signs in their yards on all major holidays (when drinking is prevalent) and be prohibited from driving on these major holidays. After all, it’s to protect the children. And if just one child is saved (an unprovable premise), then it’s worth their inconvenience.  Right?  Fair is fair.

The rub is that this net would catch far too many politicians, law enforcement officers, attorneys, DA’S/prosecutors, and, yes, even a few judges to ever be passed into law.  Sure, they want to protect the children, just not at their inconvenience.  But persons required to register are a different story.  They don’t really count as people in American society.  Yes, they may have paid their debts according to the judicial system, but the gestapo really just doesn’t believe that’s enough.  The offender may have successfully completed “treatment” and be deemed very low risk, but they don’t really believe in the “treatment” that the statutes require offenders to endure, complete, and pay for.  Wink, wink.  Enough is never enough.  After all, these offenses are, well, icky.  You’re never really rehabilitated and reintegrated from icky.  The gestapo will make glowing public statements about everyone being deserving of a second chance and being accepted back into society, but privately, it’s wink-wink again; they don’t really mean it.

So, until we get these arcane registries booted for good, grab a big bag of candy, put on a good movie, and don’t answer the door.  You never know what sort of goblins might lurking.

Kyle is a person forced to register on the sex offender registry in Colorado.

The post Boo! Who? first appeared on NARSOL.

Reprinted in full with permission; first published Octobrt 23 at the CT Mirror.

By Cindy Prizio . . . When I was a kid, Halloween was a night of freedom, fun, and candy. Our parents never accompanied us. We were neighborhood kids, and this was our community.

Years later, when I had a child of my own, some aspects of the holiday had changed. A parent always accompanied each group of kids. Neighborhoods were more spaced out and the danger from cars increased.

What didn’t change is the excitement my son felt — his costume carefully thought out and prepared. He eagerly waited for dusk and the festivities to begin. I loved hearing the sound of my son squeal with unadulterated glee as we went door to door with our family, including our dog and many others. On Halloween we were ALL family no matter our race, politics, or socioeconomics.

The moms would dress up as witches to greet us with hot cider. At one house a mummy propped up on a bench came alive when we rang the doorbell. This wasn’t some machine, but rather a real person scaring the wits out of us! Cul-de-sacs became block parties. Other adults in our neighborhood stood around bonfires, some enjoying Devil’s Grog or maybe a stogie. The night was a celebration!

As a mother in her 60s who has lived in Connecticut nearly my entire life, I have experienced Halloween as a child, parent, and neighbor. Over that time, I have seen Halloween change from my favorite holiday to another sad example of community fear and division. In the past there were so many children we ran out of candy and had to resort to giving out quarters and apples. As the years went by, we began to have a lot of candy left over at the end of the night. Only a few older teens were trick-or-treating at our house. Eventually, we stopped needing candy altogether; children don’t come to our door anymore.

What’s changed? For one thing, I have! As executive director of a statewide non-profit that speaks out against the injustice of marginalized people, I see up close the societal and human cost of irrational fear and how it erodes the strength of our communities. Such fears lead to public policies that are destructive and ineffective, costing precious taxpayer resources and doing more harm than good.

Urban legends abound during Halloween. Some are harmless, but others cause extreme reactions from parents to imaginary dangers. In 1970, the New York Times published an article claiming Halloween goodies could bring “more horror than happiness.” It spread fears of candy-tampering that were fueled by the era’s social upheaval and the sense that neighbors could no longer be trusted. The resulting rumor panic ended homemade Halloween treats for children and led to “safe” spaces at trunk-or-treat events or the malls.

Yet researchers have found zero instances of a stranger killing or seriously injuring a child with Halloween candy, and the Times itself has admitted its mistake.  However, other media outlets continue to spread this myth because it “sells papers,” (or drives clicks) which creates more fear, which leads to more mythical stories, which sells more papers.

For the past few decades, the media has focused on another boogeyman in our neighborhoods: the person who has been convicted of a sexual crime (more egregiously known as a “sex offender”). Journalists who create sensationalized stories direct parents to the online Sex Offense Registry. The product-research site Chamber of Commerce erroneously ranks towns on Halloween safety in part based on the number of individuals convicted of sexual offenses living there, despite the fact that the Registry website itself states that being on the Registry is not an indicator of dangerousness.

The research has shown that children are at no higher risk of being sexually harmed on Halloween than any other day. The vast majority of sexual offenses against children are by other children or trusted adults in their social proximity. Additionally, more than 95% of sexual crime is by people who are not on the registry.

For the fathers and mothers who are on the Sex Offense Registry, or have a loved one on the Registry living with them, Halloween is a time to be in your home with lights off and absolutely no exterior decorations. Parents and grandparents on the Registry often have children who would otherwise be trick-or-treating with them. Their children don’t get to participate with the entire family on Halloween. Why are these children being punished?

Much as with the persecution of witches, today’s myths cause suffering based on nothing more than feelings of fear and hate. The fear of strangers continues today in mythical poisoned candy, the boogeyman of the “sex offender,” and other false beliefs. Only time will tell who the next group to be feared (and hated) will be. We are all strangers to someone.

As news organizations face pressure to generate revenue, their journalistic integrity will continue to erode. The media can provide a real public service through insightful and well-researched reporting. Or it can also cause real harm through spreading imaginary dangers. The public must hold the media accountable for misinformation if it is to stay well-informed with accurate facts. Until certain media outlets stop their sensationalism and fear mongering, it’s up to the public to be critical about what they are being told. It is easy to give into fear; we create healthier and safer communities by seeking and understanding the truth.

The unvarnished truth is that the real and greatest threat to our children on Halloween is the automobile. Kids are three times more likely to be hit by a car on Halloween than on any other night of the year. By focusing on imagined dangers, communities are failing to take action that could actually protect children.

Our communities need to stop chasing the latest media ‘witch hunt’ and come together as neighbors. We can start by getting more involved in local government and other community organizations. Maybe we’ll even find a way to make Halloween fun again.

The post NARSOL’S CT affiliate: Let’s make Halloween fun again first appeared on NARSOL.