Capital Punishment on Sex Offenders

LaShannon Jones
Ms. fischer
English 1301
26 March 2013

“A View From The Front Line” In “ A View From The Front Line”, Nathaniel Pallone is explaining that Megan’s law was passed because the lack of treatment for the offender. He supports his claim by pointing out that Megan’s killer had been incarcarated twice for the same offense and released due to completion of sentence and not because he received treatment for his actions. Pallone argues that the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the presiding judge was only interested in saving the state more expenses of a trial. As a professor of psychology and an editor of the Journal of Offender Rehabilitaion, Pallone has served on the Special Classification Review Board (SCRB) for sex offenders in the New Jersey Department of corrections since 1976. He also served as dean and academic vice president of the State University of New Jersey. Pallone states there was failure in the criminal justice system. He supports his facts by stating, “ Megan’s Law came to be , not only without legislative hearings on any of the several proposed bills but also without even a cursory reconstructive analysis of the chain of events that placed a twice-convicted sex offender at liberty without even the mild deterrence of parole supervision”. Pallone is trying to let people know that seven year old Megan kanka could be alive today if the criminal system would have taken on treatment for megan’s killer, instead of releasing him back to the community to inflict more pain to families. This is a good argument because Pallone describes how sex offenders can be released without the right tool to help reconstruct their character. He explains that with the proper treatment and well maintained behavior , a sex offender can make a remarkable recovery and return to society. Secondly, Pallone’s tone states that the offender should have been recommended to a state psychiatric hospital. He supports claims by saying, “ If there is a “benefit” for ADTC and its treatment program in the aftermath of Megan’s death, it is that a pathway has been established whereby an inmate whose sentence is about to expire but who has not been recommended for parole ...may be referred with a recommendation for involuntary but civil commitment to a state psychriatric hospital”. Finally , Pallone focuses his main point on inmates leading to parol before Megan’s law was enacted. He explains that offenders under the Megan’s law face unemployment, no shelter, and a constant reminder of their past. This is a great argument because Pallone wants people to know that a sex offender ,after being released can continue to be punished for what he/she has done. Pallone apparently makes his point by giving direct information on cases regarding sex offenders and the criminal system. Pallone do not fully support Megan’s Law and strongly believe that a offender can be recreated by treatment then released back into a community as been marked “paid in full”.

Works Cited
Pallone, Nathaniel “ A View From The Front Line.” Criminal Justice Ethics 9(1995). Academic Search Complete. Ipswich, MA. 26 March 2013

Cited: Pallone, Nathaniel “ A View From The Front Line.” Criminal Justice Ethics 9(1995). Academic Search Complete. Ipswich, MA. 26 March 2013