Megan's Law Essay

When the life of an innocent human being is threatened, it enrages the average American citizen. However, when that life belongs to a child it hits harder for most. Protecting children is at the forefront of most Americans’ minds, especially parents who understand what it is like to have children impacted against criminal acts. The passage of Megan’s Law has led to an improvement in the awareness and understanding of sex offenders, but ultimately does not reduce the number of sex crimes against children due to the many faults within the law.

As of May 17, 1996, Megan’s Law was enacted by Congress. Established to help protect children, it mandated that all sex offenders register with the local authorities and the legal database with registered

offenders must be made public (Harris). The petition to get such a law passed started in 1994. Megan Kanka, who was just seven years old at the time, was abducted and ultimately killed by a sex offender, Jesse Timmendequas.

This was not the first act by Timmendequas; in fact, he had already been convicted of and labeled as a sex offender. On July 29, 1944 little Megan walked into the house of three registered sex offenders, with the promise made by Timmendequas, that she was going to see and play with a puppy. In the quiet, middle-class neighbor in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, Megan did not think twice about entering the house across the street. The neighborhood appeared safe to the point Megan’s parents would let her ride her bike up and down the street with other children that lived nearby. Yet, when Megan walked through the door, she would never walk back out. Megan was raped, choked to death and then thrown into a toy chest, which Timmendequas would dump at a park not too far from the neighborhood (Goldman). When Timmendequas was examined, he was noted for having “bite marks” on his hands, therefore it is assumed that Megan did fight back (Goldman). When Megan was found the medical examiners were able to link the DNA in Megan’s private area to Timmendequas, but also residue from his hand was found on her teeth when she had bitten Timmendequas (Harris). The Kanka family had no

knowledge that someone like this was living in their neighborhood. Ultimately Jesse Timmendequas was sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of parole (Goldman). Since then Megan’s family has put initiative into making a change regarding awareness of where registered sex offenders live. This led to the petitioning of Megan’s Law to be passed by Congress. Once passed, if a state refused to create a public database of registered sex offenders, it would be put at risk of losing federal funds used for aiding local police departments (Harris).
With the general purpose of the law created to allow citizens to become more aware of where sex offenders live in relationship to their home, Megan’s Law has enhanced “community safety from sexual violence” by allowing public access to information on registered sex offenders according to Leven and Cotter. (Levenson and Cotter). Jill S. Levenson and Leo P. Cotter compiled information together from their research on registered sex offenders and what life is like after jail and rehabilitation to create the journal article “The Effect of Megan’s Law on Sex Offender Reintegration”. Jill S. Levenson holds a Ph.D. in psychology and works as an assistance professor at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, specializes in social work regarding registered sex offenders and acclimating sex offenders back into everyday life. Leo P. Cotter, also with a Ph.D., sits as the director of the S.H.A.R.E Program, with a support organization that helps those affected by abuse. Cotter has worked with outpatient treatment of sex offenders in Tampa Bay and is one of the founding members of the Florida Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. Together both Levenson and Cotter have the knowledge and credibility to perform and write a well-rounded experiment. Within the article the authors note many positive effects Megan’s Law has had on registered sex offenders. They point out that over one-third of the sampled participants responded ‘strongly agreed’ to the statement “I am more willing to manage my risk factor because I know my neighbors are watching me” (Levenson and Cotter). The most significant point, however, was the fact that over two-thirds agreed that they are “more motivated to prevent re-offense so that I can prove to others that I am not a bad person” (Levenson and Cotter). While one sampled participant did mention that the law had no personal benefit, it was important to notify neighbors when a sex offender lived nearby for safety (Levenson and Cotter).
While the law puts pressure on registered sex offenders and appears to enhance safety in communities, the intended benefit of the law has not taken place.

The percentage of sex offenders living among the United States has increased over the years. The specific states analyzed for the increase in percentages are New Jersey, Florida, and Virginia. According to Parents for Megan’s Law the number of registered sex offenders in New Jersey in 2005 was 10,464, while the total population was 8.65 million, equaling a percentage of 0.121% of the population being registered sex offenders. However, in 2016 the number of registered sex offenders rose to 18,659 people and the population increased 8.98 million, making the new percentage 0.207% (“Parents for Megan’s Law”). According to Sex Offender Map the top cities in New Jersey for registered sex offenders include; Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, and Edison (“Sex Offender Map”). Yet this increasing trend is not confined to New Jersey – according to _______, Florida and Virginia also saw an increase in the number of registered sex offenders between 2005 and 2006. In Florida in 2005 there was 33,990 registered offenders in a population of 17.84 million meaning the percentage of sex offenders was 0.191% of the total population. It nearly doubled in 2016 when the number of registered sex offenders rose to 69,654 with a population of 20.66 million, increasing the percentage to 0.337% (“Parents of Megan’s Law”). A majority of the

registered sex offenders in Florida live in Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Hialeah according to Sex Offender Map (“Sex Offender Map”). With the number of registered sex offenders in Virginia at 13,211 and the population 7.58 million, 0.174% of the population consisted of registered offenders. In 2016 the total population was 8.41 million and the number of registered sex offenders was 22,410, increasing the total percentage to 0.266% of the population (“Parents of Megan’s Law”). Sex Offender Map notes that top cities in Virginia with registered sex offenders include; Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Arlington, and Richmond (“Sex Offender Map”). While the numbers appear alarmingly high, several preventable errors within the law itself may account for these statistics.
After further examining Megan’s Law, the explicit benefit become shadows. Robert E. Freeman-Longo, expert in psychology and rehabilitation of registered sex offenders, labels Megan’s Law as a “feel-good legislation,” implying that the law seems to play a role in safety, but promises more than it accomplishes (Freeman). Freeman-Logo states that the only aspect accomplished in the law is the idea of “notification of the public” with the intent to reduce the chances of a sex offender to reoffend (Freeman). However, the chances of reoccurrence are already insignificant, Human Rights Watch reports that out of every four sex offenders 3 will not reoffend (“US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good”). Megan’s Law also brings on additional problems such as cost, harassment and the ostracizing of registered offenders. According to CBS News in 2007 the cost of regulating the law was about $3.9 million (CBS/AP). Each state is responsible for monitoring and updating the database. This takes additional time and resources that states already have limited amounts of. If a state does not meet regulations regarding public sex offender database, they face the potential of losing federal funding (Freeman). Additionally, Megan’s Law ostracizes registered sex offenders by creating restrictions on their everyday life. There are numerous residency restrictions such as not allowing former sex offenders to live in a given town or city (“US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good”). This puts registered sex offenders at a disadvantage to acclimate back to normal societal function because they are far from homes, jobs, treatment centers, and often police authority to watch over them (“US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good”). This goes on to affect families as well. Freeman notes this behavior by pointing out the law has “demonstrated a severe and negative impact on the offender’s family” (Freeman). Furthermore, Megan’s Law has caused harassment to both offenders and their families. Due to the fact that the database is made public it has caused the identification of families and victims and led to harassment of those involved (Freeman). Human Rights Watch notes “registrants’ children have been harassed at school; registrants’ spouses have also been forced to leave their jobs”, which extends further than Megan’s Law dealing with just the registered sex offender (“US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good”). In some incidents the database is not up to date causing the address’ of innocent people to be listed as the address of a sex offender. Those “mistaken for sex offenders, have been assaulted or had their property damaged” (Freeman). This becomes alarming not just for the initial reaction to assault but the realization that the new address for the home of the registered sex offender is unknown. Altogether, the faults found within Megan’s Law make the authentication of bettering safety against sex offenders questionable.
The idea that Megan’s Law creates awareness and safety, is tested when the number of sex offenders has increased over the years and the underlying problems within the law do not put an end to sex crimes against children. While the protection of children is at upmost importance for many Americans, the true protection does not carry over into society.