16 States Urge U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Missouri Halloween Sign Case

Today, a coalition of 16 states, led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and joined by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (of course), filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Hanaway v. Sanders (the case that challenged Missouri’s law requiring individuals on the sex offender registry to post a sign on Halloween stating, “No candy or treats at this residence.”) Note that this was the case that ACSOL attorney Janice Bellucci won. The brief argues that the requirement is a factual public safety notice that regulates conduct rather than speech and therefore does not violate the First Amendment.

While additional amicus support can sometimes signal broader interest in a case, this particular filing is unlikely to move the needle very much. The brief largely repeats the arguments already made by Missouri, characterizing the sign requirement as an incidental burden on speech and relying heavily on established compelled-speech and conduct-regulation cases.

More importantly, the Supreme Court receives thousands of petitions each year and grants review in only a small percentage of them. A dispute over a Halloween sign requirement—however important it may be to those directly affected—may simply not rise to the level of national significance the Court typically looks for when deciding which cases to hear.

That doesn’t mean the petition has no chance. It does mean it’s probably nothing to lose sleep over. At this point, the filing of another amicus brief is just one more step in the certiorari process, not an indication that the Supreme Court is likely to take up the case.

You can read their brief here: Sanderson v Hanaway Halloween Amicus