Justice
The Towns Where Trick-or-Treaters May Run Afoul of the Law
From California to Maryland, local ordinances penalize trick-or-treating by teens, after 8 p.m., or even while wearing a mask.
Halloween night in 1967 was wild in Portsmouth, Virginia: One teenager flung a firecracker into a younger trick-or-treater’s bag, and another used a steak knife to stab a 14-year-old who stole a bag of candy.
Afterwards, about 30 civic groups and PTAs petitioned the city council to impose age limits for trick-or-treating and restrict the hours when children were allowed to go door-to-door. The result was a trick-or-treating ordinance that punishes trick-or-treating over the age of 12 (unless a person is supervising a younger child) or after 8 p.m. as a misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $500.