Georgia Sex Offenders Sue Over 'No Trick-Or-Treat' Signs In Their Yards

A group of sex offenders in Georgia filed a lawsuit against the Butts County Sheriff's Office for putting signs up in their yards warning neighbors not to trick-or-treat at their houses on Halloween.

Sheriff Gary Long placed the warning signs in the front yards of over 200 sex offenders last year. The signs featured a brown paper bag with a red line through it and said: "Warning! No Trick-or-Treat at this address!!"

The class-action lawsuit was filed by three sex offenders who say the signs violate their constitutional rights. They claim that because Georgia law does not require them to place the signs in their yards, the Sheriff's Office has no right to trespass on their property to put up the signs.

"I'm just not sure that this kind of action makes your kids any safer," the lead attorney for the petitioners, Mark Yurachek, told WAGA-TV. "It just makes your constitutional rights less safe."

In one case, an officer told one of the sex offenders he faced arrest if he removed the sign before November 2.

Long has defended the signs and said they are meant to protect children.

"This Thursday, we will argue to the Federal Court that we are protecting our children and following Georgia Law by placing these signs," Long wrote on Facebook. "Regardless of the Judge's ruling this Thursday, I WILL do everything within the letter of the Law to protect the children of this Community."