Megans Law Essays - Sex Offender Registries In The United States

Megan's Law What is the best way to deal with people who prey on our children? Should we send them away forever or should we brand them sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Do the sex offenders have rights? The government feels that the best way to deal with this type of criminal is to brand them. Megan's Law or Registration of sex offender law was created so that people would be able to protect themselves and their children from such people. Sex offenders, supposedly, are chemically unbalanced and are unable to control themselves. Therefore, a high rates of recidivism. So in an effort to control them we have a registration program. But maybe we have gone too far. Do these monsters have rights? Is it okay to punish them again for the second time? Megan's law is a program to register sex offenders. In New Jersey Statutes Annotated Megan's law is defined as a person who has been convicted, adjudicated delinquent or found not guilty by reason of insanity for commission of a sex offense, will register. A person who fails to register as required under this act will be found guilty of a crime in the forth degree. The law goes on to explain who registers with whom. It also says who is allowed to see the list of the registered sex offenders. There are several tiers that are involved. These were created when the law was first placed on the books in New Jersey. The first tier is the person who committed 3rd degree sex crime; those people are to notify only the police. Those who committed a 2nd degree sex crime are to notify the police and community leaders. Finally those who commit at 1st degree sex crime have to notify all those in the community. As of now all fifty states have a law similar to Megan's law on their books. When a person is convicted and/or released from prison on a sex crime offense they must register with the community they wish to live in. With whom they need to notify depends on the state with which they live. Some states have the sex offender notify the police of they're where abouts, and some tell the entire community. The purpose of this law is to protect the communities around the nation for dangerous sex criminals. The object is to register person(s) as sex offenders to keep track of their location. It is like a life time on parole. Megan's Law or registration of sex offenders is a program created out of crisis and horror. On July 29, 1994 in Hamilton Township, New Jersey Megan Kanka was murdered. In Megan's neighborhood lived a sex offender named Jesse Timmendequas. He lived across the street from Megan. On this day Megan was heading home and right before she made it to her front door Timmendequas invited her into his house. He asked her if she wanted to see his puppy. He led her to an upstairs bedroom and strangled her unconscious with his belt. He raped her and the suffocated her with a plastic bag. When he was done, he put her in a tool box and dumped her in a local park. After this occurred, exactly three months on October 31, 1994, the governor of New Jersey passed Megan's law. It has been challenged by some a sex offender in the case Artway v New Jersey. Artway argued that his constitutional rights had been violated. He felt that this law was Ex Post Facto, after the fact. He also said that it was cruel a nd unusual punishment, double jeopardy, and violated his right to privacy. In that decision the notification was ruled to be unconstitutional. But the act itself of registration was constitutional. When one starts to look into this law not much, is written. What can be found are many articles saying what the critics think will happen. Things that are discussed are the Ex Post Facto law, and the constitutionality. The fact is this law will work. When put into place it will keep sex offenders away from children and keep them out of your neighborhood. The problem is that the outcome is not really understood. Some