Going To Jail For Being ‘Too Old’ To Trick-Or-Treat? [S.O.T.A.]

To me, I don't care how old a trick-or-treater is: if they're making the effort, I'm sharing some Halloween loot with them. But there's a city in Virginia that's being totally lame for Halloween.

Chesapeake, Virginia - population 223,000+ - is turning into Buzzkillington this Halloween by threatening jail time to teenagers who dare to hold onto a frayed string of their youth (yet...are still young) by trick-or-treating. For real? For real.

Could you imagine being a 12-year-old trick-or-treating and getting thrown in the slammer for 6 months? I can't. Does that sound ridiculous? Dang right it does, but that's how it's written into the city's ordinance code.

That code reads that if anyone age 12 or older that participates in "trick or treat" or any similar activity "...shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25.00 nor more than $100.00 or by confinement in jail for not more than six months or both." Just imagine being a week into your 6 month sentence, and someone asks what you're in for (and are you even old enough to be here).

Got yer pitchforks and torches ready? Put them down. The ordinance is to quell unruly teenagers that want to smash pumpkins and egg houses. At least that's what they claim.

On top of the trick or treat ordinance, there's also a curfew for Halloween. Trick-or-treating after 8pm could get you a misdemeanor, a $100 fine, and or 30 days in the hole.

Norfolk is another Virginia city cracking down on Halloween teens, threatening a Class 4 misdemeanor to any 12+ rapscallion trick-or-treating.

H/T: CBS News