Orange Stickers

Cautionary notices affixed to houses responsible for noise, uproar and brouhaha.

In a bid to reduce noisy house parties, police in Narragansett, Rhode Island, publicly shame their residents – posting orange stickers onto their houses when things get too boisterous, Eric Tucker reported for The Associated Press:

Police have cited more than 300 homes since 2005 under a town law aimed at curbing rowdy gatherings – especially among off-campus students from the nearby University of Rhode Island – and helping officers and neighbors more easily flag problem properties.

A federal judge will hear arguments next month on a lawsuit from students who liken the stickers to degrading “scarlet letters” – stigmatizing labels of literary lore worn by adulterous women – that shame them before the neighborhood and leave them vulnerable to repeat visits from the police.

“Once you have the sticker, you’re basically assumed guilty of everything that happens in the neighborhood,” said Michael Spatcher, 21, a U.R.I. student whose rental house was given an orange stickerlast year after a party and who is among those pressing a judge to nix the law.

According to Tucker, the 10-inch-by-14-inch stickers must be displayed for the duration of the school year or summer holiday – depending on when they were issued.