Virginia towns' trick-or-treat laws threaten over-12s with jail-time

In Chesapeake, VA, trick-or-treaters over 12 face fines of $25-100 and up to six months in jail (under-12s who trick-or-treat after 8PM face fines of $10-100 and up to 30 days in jail).

In Newport News and Norfolk, over-12s who trick-or-treat are "guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor." Suffolk merely makes over-12 trick-or-treating "against the law." York County requires 10- and 11-year-olds to be accompanied by an adult.

These rules are turning a holiday that used to celebrate childhood independence -- out they went, on their own, in "grown-up" clothing, to get to know their neighbors, to get brave by facing the dark, to get goodies by being bold and ringing doorbells -- into an orgy of adult supervision and anxiety. The time frame gets shorter as the regulations grow, all seemingly based on the idea that anyone above age 13 is a potential hooligan, anyone under age 13 is a potential victim, and any semblance of fun must be thrown out faster than a slightly tampered Snickers bar.

Any Child Over Age 12 Caught Trick or Treating Can Face 6 Months in Jail: Chesapeake, VA [Let Grow]

(via Free Range Kids)

(Image: Dress Up America)