8th Circuit Restores Halloween Restrictions on Sex Offenders in Missouri

A federal appeals court is permitting enforcement of a Missouri law that restricts sex offenders from contact with children on Halloween.

The law requires sex offenders to stay at home the evening of Halloween unless they are required to be elsewhere for just cause, and bars them from "Halloween-related contact" with children, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

A federal judge had issued an injunction barring enforcement of parts of the law because of vagueness. Yesterday the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the injunction until it can rule on the merits, the Associated Press reports.

The American Civil Liberties Union represented four sex offenders challenging the law. Lawyer Tony Rothert of the ACLU said he may seek a review by the full 8th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court.