The California Department of Corrections this week clarified requirements of Operation Boo, a program designed to protect children from registered sexual offenders on Halloween, stating that offenders do not need to post exterior signs on their property warning potential trick-or-treaters to stay away.
KRON 4 News reports that the clarification was made after a lawsuit was filed challenging the constitutionality of such a mandate.
Operation Boo is a 22-year-old California program designed to protect children on Halloween. The operation is to enforce Halloween-specific restrictions on the movements and actions of California sex offenders. The restrictions include barring the offenders from passing out candy, and that from 5:00 p.m. on October 31st to 5:00 a.m. on November 1st they may only answer the door for a parole or police officer.
The requirement to post a warning sign was not explicitly part of Operation Boo, but one Chula Vista man bristled at the specific requirement given to him by his parole officer. According to The Daily Beast, the proposed sign read "Please do not disturb. We do not participate in Trick or Treating.”
In a suit filed against the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, the man's lawyer, Janice Bellucci, said the sign-posting requirement was unconstitutional. The department denied responsibility for the sign to The Daily Beast.
"Affixing a poster to one’s home is not a statewide policy of Operation Boo.”