Megan's Law
Encyclopedia
Megan's Law is an informal name for laws in the United States
requiring law enforcement
authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offender
s. Individual states decide what information will be made available and how it should be disseminated. Commonly included information includes the offender's name, picture, address, incarceration
date, and nature of crime. The information is often displayed on free public website
s, but can be published in newspaper
s, distributed in pamphlet
s, or through various other means.
At the federal level, Megan's Law is known as the Sexual Offender (Jacob Wetterling) Act of 1994
, and requires persons convicted of sex crimes against children to notify local law enforcement of any change of address or employment after release from custody (prison or psychiatric facility). The notification requirement may be imposed for a fixed period of time - usually at least ten years - or permanently.
Some states may legislate registration for all sex crimes, even if no minors were involved. It is a felony in most jurisdictions to fail to register or fail to update information.
Megan's Law provides two major information services to the public: sex offender registration
and community notification. The details of what is provided as part of sex offender registration and how community notification is handled vary from state to state, and in some states the required registration information and community notification protocols have changed many times since Megan's Law was passed. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
supplements Megan's Law with new registration requirements and a three-tier system for classifying sex offenders according to their risk to the community.
was the sponsor in 1994 in the New Jersey General Assembly
of a package of seven bills known as Megan's Law that were approved one month after the rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka
by Jesse Timmendequas, a sex offender who had been previously convicted of sex crimes and had lived across the street from Kanka together with four other sex offenders. The bills would require sex offender registration
, with a database tracked by the state, community notification of registered sex offenders moving into a neighborhood and life in prison without a chance of parole for those convicted of a second sexual assault. Kramer expressed incredulity at the controversy created by the bills, saying that "Megan Kanka would be alive today" if the bills he proposed had been law.
concluded that it had no effect on community tenure (i.e., time to first re-arrest), showed no demonstrable effect in reducing sexual re-offenses, had no effect on the type of sexual re-offense or first time sexual offense (still largely child molestation), and had no effect on reducing the number of victims of sexual offenses. The authors felt that given the lack of demonstrated effect of the law on sexual offenses, its growing costs may not be justifiable.
adopted Megan's law soon after its inception in New Jersey and modified it with some notable changes. Each "sex"-related offense is placed on the registry with largely vague categories of severity numbered 1 through 4. The specific details of the offense, the circumstances, and various other factors are taken into consideration when charges are brought and listed on the site along with the driver's license picture of the individual. Regardless of offense level, the individual is placed on the registry for a minimum of 25 years, up to life. Certain HYTA cases are not listed on the public version of the registry while the individuals are minors.
Michigan's law also includes registration as sex offenders for certain crimes without any sexual element, such as kidnapping and public vulgarity or indecency (swearing in public).
) of each year to protect children from being abducted during "this night of intentional identity confusion". The logistics of this have proven to be difficult to justify, as there have been no reported cases of abduction related to children visiting an offender's home on Halloween.
Michigan state representative Paul Scott issued this statement on October 14, 2011: "Although Halloween is a joyous time for many young children, it is also a time when sex offenders don't have to troll play areas or neighborhood hangouts to gain access to young people," said Scott, R-Grand Blanc. "Unsuspecting children will inevitably knock on the doors of sex offenders this Saturday, creating a potentially dangerous situation."
His comments reflect the general attitude of many politicians, legislators and law-enforcement officials across the country. Virtually all 50 states have enacted similar requirements for sex offenders on Halloween night.
"Convicted sex offenders should never be allowed to take part in the Halloween tradition," Scott said. "Michigan must take a 'lights out' approach when it comes to the homes of sex offenders to help young people stay safe during Halloween."
Considering extensive research done on true sex offense recidivism rates - which average under 9% for the entire country from 1983 to 2010 - suggest that Scott's comments are less fact and more of a personal agenda, the true scope of Megan's Law is revealed to be quite broad and open to interpretation.
Reformists have conceded that the registry and the above laws have a place, however with some modifications. The typical recidivism rate statistics provided by the State of Michigan show that an average of 3.5% (years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) of registered offenders re-offend (a reoffense is defined as committing a similar offense, missing a parole or probation meeting, or failing to re-register as is required 4 times a year). The other 96.5% on average, for the years stated, are classified as first time offenders with no prior felonies or "sex"-related crimes on record.
As stated above, country-wide statistics over a longer period of time echo the results provided by the State of Michigan.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
requiring law enforcement
Law enforcement
Law enforcement broadly refers to any system by which some members of society act in an organized manner to promote adherence to the law by discovering and punishing persons who violate the rules and norms governing that society...
authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offender
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
s. Individual states decide what information will be made available and how it should be disseminated. Commonly included information includes the offender's name, picture, address, incarceration
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
date, and nature of crime. The information is often displayed on free public website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s, but can be published in newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s, distributed in pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
s, or through various other means.
At the federal level, Megan's Law is known as the Sexual Offender (Jacob Wetterling) Act of 1994
Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act
The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act is a United States law that requires states to implement a sex offender and crimes against children registry...
, and requires persons convicted of sex crimes against children to notify local law enforcement of any change of address or employment after release from custody (prison or psychiatric facility). The notification requirement may be imposed for a fixed period of time - usually at least ten years - or permanently.
Some states may legislate registration for all sex crimes, even if no minors were involved. It is a felony in most jurisdictions to fail to register or fail to update information.
Megan's Law provides two major information services to the public: sex offender registration
Sex offender registration
Sex offender registration is a system in various states designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. In some jurisdictions , information in the registry is made available to the...
and community notification. The details of what is provided as part of sex offender registration and how community notification is handled vary from state to state, and in some states the required registration information and community notification protocols have changed many times since Megan's Law was passed. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is a federal statute that was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on July 27, 2006. The Walsh Act organizes sex offenders into three tiers and mandates that Tier 3 offenders update their whereabouts every three months with lifetime...
supplements Megan's Law with new registration requirements and a three-tier system for classifying sex offenders according to their risk to the community.
New Jersey
Paul KramerPaul Kramer
Paul Kramer is an American Republican Party politician. He served four terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 14th Legislative District from 1992 to 2000.-Early career:...
was the sponsor in 1994 in the New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...
of a package of seven bills known as Megan's Law that were approved one month after the rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka
Megan Kanka
The murder of Megan Kanka occurred on July 29, 1994 in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. The 7 year old Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbour Jesse Timmendequas...
by Jesse Timmendequas, a sex offender who had been previously convicted of sex crimes and had lived across the street from Kanka together with four other sex offenders. The bills would require sex offender registration
Sex offender registration
Sex offender registration is a system in various states designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. In some jurisdictions , information in the registry is made available to the...
, with a database tracked by the state, community notification of registered sex offenders moving into a neighborhood and life in prison without a chance of parole for those convicted of a second sexual assault. Kramer expressed incredulity at the controversy created by the bills, saying that "Megan Kanka would be alive today" if the bills he proposed had been law.
Study of effectiveness
A December 2008 study of the law in New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
concluded that it had no effect on community tenure (i.e., time to first re-arrest), showed no demonstrable effect in reducing sexual re-offenses, had no effect on the type of sexual re-offense or first time sexual offense (still largely child molestation), and had no effect on reducing the number of victims of sexual offenses. The authors felt that given the lack of demonstrated effect of the law on sexual offenses, its growing costs may not be justifiable.
Michigan
MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
adopted Megan's law soon after its inception in New Jersey and modified it with some notable changes. Each "sex"-related offense is placed on the registry with largely vague categories of severity numbered 1 through 4. The specific details of the offense, the circumstances, and various other factors are taken into consideration when charges are brought and listed on the site along with the driver's license picture of the individual. Regardless of offense level, the individual is placed on the registry for a minimum of 25 years, up to life. Certain HYTA cases are not listed on the public version of the registry while the individuals are minors.
Michigan's law also includes registration as sex offenders for certain crimes without any sexual element, such as kidnapping and public vulgarity or indecency (swearing in public).
Mixed reactions
The effectiveness of Megan's Law, the Jacob Wetterling Act and the Adam Walsh Act are constant fodder for media and politicians alike. Proponents of the above laws maintain that these laws are necessary for the control and monitoring of dangerous individuals that live amongst the general populace. One senator has suggested that sex offenders in each jurisdiction be ordered to report to their local jail on October 31 (HalloweenHalloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
) of each year to protect children from being abducted during "this night of intentional identity confusion". The logistics of this have proven to be difficult to justify, as there have been no reported cases of abduction related to children visiting an offender's home on Halloween.
Michigan state representative Paul Scott issued this statement on October 14, 2011: "Although Halloween is a joyous time for many young children, it is also a time when sex offenders don't have to troll play areas or neighborhood hangouts to gain access to young people," said Scott, R-Grand Blanc. "Unsuspecting children will inevitably knock on the doors of sex offenders this Saturday, creating a potentially dangerous situation."
His comments reflect the general attitude of many politicians, legislators and law-enforcement officials across the country. Virtually all 50 states have enacted similar requirements for sex offenders on Halloween night.
"Convicted sex offenders should never be allowed to take part in the Halloween tradition," Scott said. "Michigan must take a 'lights out' approach when it comes to the homes of sex offenders to help young people stay safe during Halloween."
Considering extensive research done on true sex offense recidivism rates - which average under 9% for the entire country from 1983 to 2010 - suggest that Scott's comments are less fact and more of a personal agenda, the true scope of Megan's Law is revealed to be quite broad and open to interpretation.
Reformists have conceded that the registry and the above laws have a place, however with some modifications. The typical recidivism rate statistics provided by the State of Michigan show that an average of 3.5% (years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) of registered offenders re-offend (a reoffense is defined as committing a similar offense, missing a parole or probation meeting, or failing to re-register as is required 4 times a year). The other 96.5% on average, for the years stated, are classified as first time offenders with no prior felonies or "sex"-related crimes on record.
As stated above, country-wide statistics over a longer period of time echo the results provided by the State of Michigan.
See also
- Sex offender registrationSex offender registrationSex offender registration is a system in various states designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. In some jurisdictions , information in the registry is made available to the...
- Jessica's LawJessica's LawJessica's Law is the informal name given to a 2005 Florida law, as well as laws in several other states, designed to punish sex offenders and reduce their ability to re-offend...
- Sarah's Law
- Amie ZylaAmie ZylaAmie Zyla was the focus and main proponent of "Amie's Law", which was passed in her home state of Wisconsin.-References:...
- Jonathan's LawJonathan's LawJonathan's Law, a New York statute co-sponsored by Harvey Weisenberg signed into law in May 2007, by governor Elliot Spitzer, entitles parents and legal guardians access to all child abuse investigation files and medical history records....
- ParoleWatchParoleWatchParoleWatch was a website that provided public access to data on convicted felons in New York State who were coming up for parole review. The project's aim was to let citizens "communicate their views on would-be parolees to the New York State Parole Board."...
- List of legislation named for a person
External links
- Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 (USDOJ government study)
- Facts about Megan's Law and Sex Offenders in New York State (Summary of NY Dept. of Corrections study)
- The Angry Offender (Integrates Megan's Law effects with data from USDOJ and NYDOC studies)
- Megan's Law Official Website for California
- Megan's Law ineffective, study says (by Andrew VachssAndrew VachssAndrew Henry Vachss is an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths...
, Inquirer Trenton Bureau, February 7, 2009) - Politics and Irrelevance: Community Notification Statutes
- Sex Predators Can't Be Saved (opinion piece by Andrew VachssAndrew VachssAndrew Henry Vachss is an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths...
, The New York Times, January 5, 1993) - How Many Dead Children Are Needed to End the Rhetoric? (opinion piece by Andrew VachssAndrew VachssAndrew Henry Vachss is an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths...
, New York Daily News, August 12, 1994) - MegansLaw.com