Megans Law

Have you ever let your kids walk to school and wonder if there are any sex offenders living in your area? Do you have a neighbor that you getting that creepy feeling from? If you have there is a website to look up the registered sex offenders in your area. The federally passed law called Megan’s Law allows citizens to look up sex offenders by area, name, or even school. Megan’s Law was passed in 1996 it allows law enforcement agencies to notify the general public of the sex offenders living, working, or visiting in their area. It requires sex offenders to register with the local law enforcement of the area that they are living, working, or visiting in. “Megan 's Law was inspired by the case of seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who moved across the street from the family. The Kanka family fought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area. The New Jersey legislature passed Megan 's Law in 1994In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed Megan 's Law as an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children 's Act. It required every state to develop some procedure for notifying the public when a sex offender is released into their community. Different states have different procedures for making the required disclosures. The federal law was not the first on the books that addressed the issue of registering convicted sex offenders. As early as 1947, California had laws that required sex offenders to be registered. Since the passage of the federal law in May of 1996, all states have passed some form of Megan 's Law.” (“History of Megan’s Law”) The sex offender registration laws are necessary because: * Sex offenders pose a high risk of re-offending after release from custody; * Protecting the public from sex offenders is a primary governmental interest; * The privacy interests of persons convicted of sex offenses are less important than the government’s interest in public

Cited: “History of Megan’s Law” Charles Montaldo. 2012. Web. 16 August 2012. “Megan 's Law, Sex Offenders Nationwide” Registered Sex Offenders Resources.2003-2004. Web. 16 August 2012.