Megans Law: Protecting American Families Everywhere Essay

Child molestation and sexual assault is an ever growing problem in the United States today, but an even bigger problem is that these pedophiles are being released after only serving as little as one quarter of their sentence. In California alone (at the time the bill was first passed), there was an estimated 680 individuals on parole for molestation and other sexual assaults including sodomy by force with a victim under the age of thirteen as well as child molestation with foreign objects.

In 1996, Megan’s Law was created to help police during their investigation of sex crimes and to let the public know about the identities and location of the offender. Along with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and the Safety Act of 2006, sex offenders must fill a list of information about themselves in a database; this includes their names, finger prints, a recent photo, etc. this database has three risk tiers in order to know how dangerous the offender is, with tier one is the lowest risk and tier three being the highest. With the community being a big part in dealing with sex offenders, notification statutes were made for people who want information about them. With community notification laws in place, parents must take extra precaution

“Megan's Law is a term that describes laws designed to provide information and notification to communities when a potentially dangerous sex offender moves into the neighborhood.” Offenders register with authorities, then in an online registry. They just provide their name, address, photo and conviction information (Markos 1). This Law is a controversial topic. It is about a seven year old girl named Megan Kanka who was sexually abused and murdered by her neighbor across the street (Fodor 1).In spite of critics who complain that it invades the privacy of convicted and released sex offenders, Megan's Law is vital in order to provide children's safety.

Megan’s Law is named after a girl, Megan Kanka, who at only 7 years old was kidnapped, sexually assaulted then murdered in cold blood. The man who did this had a prior conviction for sexual assault. The murderer, Jesse Timmendequas moved across the street from Megan and her family. He was sentenced to death but never got put to death because on December 17, 2007 the New Jersey Legislature abolished the death penalty. His new sentence was life in prison without any possibility of parole. However, they did not have the proper resources to know about his criminal history. Megan’s Law is a legislation that exists in the United States. It requires individuals that are convicted in sex crimes involving children or minors to register in the database containing all the names of all known and

Since it’s their enactment however some states have seen a dramatic increase in sex offenders whether due to the expansion of the definition of a sexual crime, or the reclassification of some convicts as a result of this law. An example of this would be prior to the law if a teenager was tried as an adult in their state, served time but under the state’s legislature was not required to register as an offender. Under the current law, there is a possibility this teenager will have to register for the rest of their life every 3 months. Failure to do so may result in a felony charge or possible life sentence. If they were to go to college they would need to reregister with the state they reside in as well as their home state, and would likely also be rejected for federal aid as the classification may have already pegged him as a convicted

Although in some courts the registry is stated as a punishment, most sex offenders are not officially given the registry as a punishment during sentencing. This can lead to a few obstacles in the criminal justice system, one of which is that not all punishments are clearly taken into account by the jury and judge. For example, a man convicted of fondling a woman received 5 years in prison and 5 years of probation, but did the judge and jury take into account that the offender will now be on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life? Most likely they did not or if they did they were not fully aware of the impact the registry has on an individual and their reentry back into the community. This harsh lifestyle that can be in part contributed to the registry and it can lead to public harassment, restrictions on employment titles and locations, and sustaining necessary housing. The difficulties presented to sex offenders by the registry gives the ex-offender permanent punishments in which many agree that reoffending and going back to prison is much easier than trying to reenter and sustain themselves in the

They believe that the residency restriction laws “force former offenders into exile, and often into homelessness.” (“Sex Offender Issues”). Sexual offenders are forced to live far away from family members and friends, often times for small offenses or something they committed years ago. It should not matter how long ago one offended, the key word is that they did offend. Some say, “the registry is nothing more than a Scarlet Letter to put people to shame” ("US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good."). The people who get put onto the registry have committed a terrible crime; they deserve the humiliation they may receive. Many claim that “we treat those on the registry list with disrespect and fear and this open information can put the offenders family in danger for ridicule and isolation as well.” ("IX. Residency Restriction Laws.") The family of an offender should be embarrassed by their son or daughter's behavior towards other human beings. Jamie Fellner, director of the US program at Human Rights Watch, says, “The public believes everyone on a sex offender registry is dangerous. But what’s the point of requiring registration by a teenager who exposed himself as a high-school prank or even by someone who molested a child 30 years ago?” ("US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good."). Kids need to learn the severity to exposing themselves; being forced to sign up for the registry serves as the punishment, hopefully enabling more kids to stop and think before they act. Many argue that the registration poses an issue with the job market. It is extremely difficult for an offender on the registry to find a suitable job, no one wants an offender in their workplace and they don't want that bad publicity. It becomes difficult to oneself when one can not find a job and may have been just released from prison, therefore many

In 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act were passed and establishing new rights for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. The federal Community Notification Act was enacted in 1996 to ensure community notification of the locations of convicted sex offenders. Additionally, the community notification laws were designed to give members of the community the right to know if there are any sex offenders in their community. Consequently, sex offenders cannot reside or work within a certain mileage within the school grounds and they must notify the authorities if their living arrangement changes (Alarid, 2015).

However, in my experience, this would create some significant issues in regards to our young people. First, sex-offenders know full well the age of consent and will cross state lines with individuals who are underage in one state to another where they are not. Moreover, the use mental manipulation to gain consent from young victims from difficult backgrounds. Secondly, the issue remains at what age do they have the understanding of the potential ramifications of sex? The answer is likely that if they are under the age of eighteen they look at life in the moment with very little regard for their future; So, the probability is that the age of consent should be eighteen years of

Megan is not the only case that I have taken into interest, I have chose to research deeper into the Amanda Todd case. Like Megan, Amanda Todd was just another teenager online. Everyone makes mistakes, right? Well, Amanda made one that would haunt her for the rest of her short lived life. Amanda Todd also hung herself, after an internet stalker, Tyler Boo, bullied her for years. He was charged with a couple of things, but not manslaughter (“The 5th Estate”). Manslaughter was a charge that many people were hoping Tyler Boo would get slammed with. If you can stalk an underaged girl for years, and ultimately push her into killing herself, than you are just as guilty as she is in the crime committed. Amanda fought as hard as she could against

Any adolescent having to be listed on the sex offender’s registry will obviously cause irreversible damage to their health. Nevertheless, the pressures that our children already face today is harsh enough to withstand. Do not get me wrong, I am in support of the Megan’s Law and for those who commit these types of offenses to be ridiculed for their actions. However, I am reluctant that a teen be condone for experimenting or having consensual sex with someone within his or her age range. The impact that they would endure is irremediable to them not to mention their entire family. Imagine, severe psychological and detrimental impact not only the youth but the family will face. For instance, families of youth offenders confront enormous obstacles

These couple of sex crimes that occurred are the reasons why we have certain laws today. The murder and rape of Megan Kanka is the reason why we have Megan’s Law today. The kidnappings of Amber Hagerman and Elizabeth Smart is the reason why we have AMBER Alert nationwide. It is unfortunate that children had to be harmed in order for these laws to be implemented, but at least the child’s legacy lives on through these

I don’t believe youths should be jail for having consensual sex .Example ,I know of an individual who had a daughter her age Sixteen years old was dating a seventeen year old boy ,the parents did not approved the relationship ,but these two seem in love ,as soon as the boy turned eighteen her mother had him arrested and charged for having sex with her daughter ,that ruined the young man life, because that stigma as a sex offender , would prevent him from having opportunities in his life ,such as decent jobs.

I understand that the media is allowing society to become informed about sexual abuse by covering murder cases, high-profile offenders and congressional scandals in headlines and television shows. For decades, the media has portrayed pedophiles as monsters; however, they are no longer being viewed as the “stranger” in “danger.” They are your neighbors, friends, and family members. Most importantly, pedophiles are people before they become criminals. This “stranger danger” perception blinds us from the warning signs when the actual offender could be someone we know and care about. Society is always shocked to learn that someone has sexually abused a child. Often enough, we will ask, how could someone be so evil to sexually abuse a child? But

The advantage of this law is that juveniles can be put through rehabilitation as a means to help them develop a sense of responsibility, accountability, morality, and correct judgment. It also avoids them being exposed to the harsh environment in adult prisons. But the only setback in this law is that some facilities offer poor quality of treatment, it is constantly neglected by those who have authority over the juveniles, and it is ultimately the cause of recidivism or the act of repeating of an unwanted behavior after going through behavioral treatment. And also, the environment in the public correctional facilities, unlike in private facilities, juveniles in those facilities are overcrowded, giving them less guidance from the program, and at times a hierarchy develops within the group, these situations can also contribute to the child’s behavior. The only way to resolve this is to modify the way how correctional facilities treat juveniles that benefit both the society and the juvenile while discarding its disadvantages. First, change the people around the juveniles and replace it with someone who will truly uphold its goal, to guide them, and assign someone who will overlook the persons assigned to guide juveniles, since at times they don’t do their just job properly. Secondly, organize the juveniles, especially those in public facilities. Distribute the offenders to different facilities where the environment suits them so that the effectiveness of the treatment will increase. Moreover, assign more personnel who will strictly observe everyone, as a means to nullify the presence of bullying and the like. And lastly, treat someone not the same as everyone else, but specifically for that juvenile only. The reason for that is everyone has its own reason behind their behaviors. If it works for someone, it doesn’t mean it will also work the same as