The First Amendment protects your right to trick or treat

This Halloween as you take your kids trick-or-treating, you likely aren’t thinking about the First Amendment. But you should be.

After all, going door-to-door to “solicit” — whether for money, votes, or candy — is quintessential First Amendment-protected speech. The First Amendment protects everyone from Mormon missionaries and political canvassers to children and teens wearing Halloween costumes. The Supreme Court has emphasized in recent years “the important role that door-to-door canvassing and pamphleteering has played in our constitutional tradition of free and open discussion.”

Wearing costumes is likewise a form of speech protected against government censorship. Costumes are often used to comment on political or social issues especially in an election year. For instance, this year you might see people dressing up as a childless cat lady, a coconut tree, or even fake news.

This Halloween, stay safe and stand up for your constitutional rights. And if you are annoyed by the knocks on your door, nevertheless, be grateful for the First Amendment protections that make it possible.

But unfortunately, cities and towns have placed restrictions on trick-or-treating even though it is protected by the First Amendment. For instance, many cities and towns continue to set age limits and make it illegal for teenagers to go trick-or-treating. Until 2019 one town in Virginia threatened teenagers with up to six months in jail for trick-or-treating. The town of Chesapeake repealed the law in the face of a backlash, but last year NPR reported that teenage trick-or-treating was still a misdemeanor there. And one town in Illinois not only forbids anyone above the eighth grade from trick-or-treating, but also requires anyone over 12 to get permission from the mayor or chief of police to wear a mask on a day other than Halloween. Like a “ghoul in a late night horror movie,” these kinds of zombie laws seem to never truly die. And more to the point, they areproblematic and likely unconstitutional.

In addition to outright bans, there are other spooky restrictions on trick-or-treating including time limits on when trick-or-treating can occur. While these kinds of time, place, and manner restrictions can sometimes meet First Amendment requirements, they can also raise constitutional concerns, particularly if they single out trick-or-treating and no other types of door-to-door solicitation.

This Halloween, stay safe and stand up for your constitutional rights. And if you are annoyed by the knocks on your door, nevertheless, be grateful for the First Amendment protections that make it possible.

But please . . . don’t be that person who hands out pocket Constitutions rather than candy. That’s just wicked.