Selling Lemonade Is Not A Crime! Join Lemonade Freedom Day August 20th

Of all the examples of government overreach into the lives of its citizens, the practice of shutting down little kids’ lemonade stands might be the most ridiculous. We talked about this earlier this summer when the po-po shut down some kids who were trying to sell lemonade to raise money for pediatric cancer. Yes.

Earlier this summer, my next-door neighbors set up a lemonade stand and charged 50 cents a cup to raise money for an animal shelter. I’m sure they were breaking 24 laws by doing just that.

Overzealous city and county officials using the police to shut down lemonade stands has become increasingly common. You can check out this report of a 4-year-old girl busted for selling lemonade for 25 cents a cup last weekend. She’d only been able to operate for half an hour. Over at Forbes.com we learn:

Nearby, mother Bobbie Nelson had her kids’ lemonade stand shutdown as well. Police informed her that a permit would cost $400.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, police shutdown a lemonade stand run by three girls who were saving money to go to a water park. Police said the girls needed a business license, a peddler’s permit, and a food permit to operate the stand, which cost $50 per day or $180 per year each, sums that would quickly cut into any possible profit-margin.

In Appleton, Wisconsin the city council recently passed an ordinance preventing vendors from selling products within two blocks of local events including kids who want to sell lemonade or cookies.

These are hardly isolated incidents. From slapping parents with $500 fines for letting their kids run unlicensed lemonade stands (though this was later waived after public outcry), to government officials calling the cops on kids selling cupcakes, the list goes on and on and on.

Some people have had enough and launched Lemonade Freedom Day to combat this ridiculous encroachment on childhood freedom:

Please join us on August 20, 2011 and set up your own lemonade stand. We need to send a message to everyone who is listening. They can not shut down the kids lemonade stands. If you do not have kids or do not want to set up your own lemonade stand, please support a local kid’s lemonade stand. Selling lemonade is not a crime!

This should motivate you to join:

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Or as a friend of mine just told me, “They can take our lives, but they’ll never take our lemonade FREEDOM!”