Restrictions for Sex Offenders on Halloween

The City Council for Simi Valley will soon place additional restrictions on what sex offenders can do for Halloween. They will be prohibited from displaying Halloween decorations or opening their doors to children on Halloween. The rest of the proposed law is set forth in the Ventura County Star article.  Other jurisdictions, including California, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin, have similar rules.

But there’s a strong counter argument that the rules are simply the result of fear mongering among the media.  You can read the arguments on Grits for Breakfast, the Austin American Statesman, Salon, Diane Dimond, and the Forensic Psychologist.  They contend that there is no spike of sex crimes on Halloween and that police officers would better serve our community on traffic duty, since there is an increase in car accidents involving children on Halloween.

What do you think?  Should sex offenders be allowed to participate in Halloween?