OMG!! They were "soliciting" without a license!!
Throw them in jail.
How dare these teenagers take work from illegal aliens.
We have to protect the illegal aliens!
I have a half dozen illegal aliens that come to my door every weekend and ask to mow my lawn and trim my trees.
If illegal aliens get cited for "soliciting" they just don't show up in court and they are back the next week.
Why are you escalating this? The kids were never in danger of going to jail. The cops acted correctly here. It's against the law in that town to knock on doors looking for a business transaction without permission from the local government. You don't need a license to solicit. You don't need a license to shovel the old lady's walk. You need a license to knock on people's doors and try to conduct a business transaction. I lean pretty libertarian, and personally, I wouldn't even have the option of getting a permit to do door to door solicitations - I'd ban them all. I don't believe the government should have the right to allow someone to knock on my door if I don't want them there, but why do folks here have a problem with the concept that it is illegal to knock on someone's door to solicit work?
What I think a lot of you posters are missing is that these kids probably woke up somebody who was sleeping after working the night shift and that guy called the cops on the kids because he (rightfully!) does not like to be disturbed in the privacy of his own home.
-PJ