"Last year it was the so-called droopy- drawers bill that would have required kids to pull up their pants. This year, the “I-can’t-believe-he-did-that” bill is the “Home Serenity and Tranquility Act,” proposed by Del. Robert Hull (D-Falls Church).

Hull apparently introduced the bill at the request of one suburban family who wanted legislators to silence the sounds of children playing near their home. The bill would prohibit the use of athletic fields before 8am and after 6pm, and on Sundays, without the “unanimous written consent of the affected homeowners” within 65 yards of the field. “It’s the bad bill of the year,” says Charlottesville Dele-gate David Toscano.

As written, the bill would have made it almost impossible for children to play organized sports, even on public fields paid for by taxpayers. Not surprisingly, angry letters from soccer moms (and, to a lesser extent, the Frisbee dog lobby) poured into the General Assembly from across the Common-wealth—so many that even Hull himself was forced to say he had put the bill in “by request” and did not necessarily support it, either, according to The Daily Progress." (John Borgmeyer, C-Ville Weekly, January 28, 2006)