Megan's Law

What is the foundation of Megan's law, and why must it be enforced?

What is Megan's law? Megan's law was named after seven year old Megan Kanka., native of New Jersey. Megan was walking home when 33 year old Jesse Timmendequas invited her into his home to pet his puppy. He led her to the upstairs bedroom, raped and killed her. He then placed her body in a tool box and dropped it off in a local soccer field in the bushes. Timmendequas had earlier been convicted of a sex crime and then had been released from prison to move into the neighborhood where the Kanka's lived, a year before the murder of Megan.

Three months later, the Governor of New Jersey signed into law the eleven page bill entitled Megan's Law (named after Megan Kanka). (Stephanie Cara Saunders) Under Megan's law, sex offenders are required to register with local state/city police to alert the community that someone who is a convicted sex offender is moving into their community.

Does this law actually deter sex crimes? As stated by the Bureau of Justice statistics, there is a need for registering sex offenders because they are four times more likely to commit another offense than any other type of felon, even though they are less likely to commit a different felony than any other felon.

A big controversy arises on the subject of forcing child sex offenders to register with local police within the communities that they will be moving into. Civil rights

Activists who fight for individual rights of persons, felons or not, state that since the criminal has served his/her time, that it is a violation of the person's civil rights to force them to register after they are released from prison. They claim that the privacy of the individual is violated, that the felon has served his/her time, has paid their debt to society and should be able to enjoy peace, without being branded for the crimes they committed after their release back into society. And, yet some people believe that protecting children should be placed above individual rights.