“Sex offenders and predators don’t get to celebrate.”

That is the opening line of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Halloween message. Think about who hears those words: a spouse, a child, an entire household.

In my opinion, telling a whole group of people they cannot decorate or celebrate is going overboard. Their families feel that message, too.

This hits home for me in Hernando County. Halloween is my favorite time to decorate, but our local restrictions limit what my family can display. I do not hand out candy. I spend that time with my own children.

Our children under the burden get still upset and ask, “Why can’t we even put window stickers up?”. It happens to me!

Children did nothing wrong. Neither did any other child living under this burden created by lawmakers. Yet something as small as a sticker becomes a source of worry at home.

These rules begin with elected officials. State lawmakers in Tallahassee write state laws. City councils and county commissioners pass local ordinances. Agencies then interpret and enforce them.

Video credit: Original citizen video shared on Facebook⁠

In the video, a citizen uses rhetoric toward an entire population that, in my opinion, risks encouraging vigilantism and banishment. This kind of language can fuel hostility toward whole households, including spouses and children who have done nothing wrong. Everyone deserves safety from threats and harassment.

That is where gaps can appear between what lawmakers say a rule should do, how officers apply it, and what families understand also how citizens view a population grouped like this.

“It’s the law” does not end the discussion.

Many of us ask agencies for clarification because we want to remain law-abiding, even when the rules are burdensome. Too often, we receive no clear answer. People should not have to guess what is allowed while fearing that a wrong guess could lead to arrest.

Show me the evidence that my family’s Halloween decorations put children in danger. How does a pumpkin on our porch or a sticker in our window threaten anyone? Explain what harm these bans prevent—and provide the evidence.

Readers can examine
Jacksonville’s ordinance, Section 685.104, and
Hernando’s 2023 amendment to its holiday restrictions.
Their wording and exceptions matter. Neither should be reduced to a slogan.

Both jurisdictions’ holiday provisions appear in Exhibit 2 of FAC’s lawsuit.
The challenge asks courts to examine these restrictions as part of a larger system.

Missouri shows why review matters. A federal court ruled that forcing registrants to post a “No candy or treats” sign violated the First Amendment. That ruling addressed the sign requirement, leaving other Halloween restrictions in place.
Read the statute and court ruling annotation.

Halloween also brings
targeted enforcement operations and door-knocking compliance checks.
Please be safe, know your requirements, and ask your attorney  about unclear rules. Make sure all requirements are meet so we have zero failure to registers going forward to Halloween! Thank you all!

We can follow the rules while asking lawmakers to change them and agencies to explain them.

Before another official says we “don’t get to celebrate,” I wish they would hear my child’s question.

The people who create and enforce these policies owe families an answer.