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Megan Law

Megan's Law ( English ) - the name of the federal law adopted in 1994 and the unspoken title of subsequent US laws obliging law enforcement agencies to provide public open access to database information on registered sex offenders . The laws were enacted as a response to the killing of Megan Kank . Megan Law at the federal level was passed as a subsection of Jacob Wetterling’s Law , which earlier in the same year introduced a requirement for the compulsory registration of persons who have committed sexual offenses . [1] [2] Since before the tragedy with Megan, only in some states there was such a rule, federal law allows bringing law enforcement practice into line with both laws.

Individual states decide for themselves what information will be publicly available and how it will be distributed. Usually this is the name and surname of the offender, his photo, place of residence, date of conclusion and description of the crime for which he was convicted. This data is usually posted on publicly accessible websites, although it can be printed in newspapers and distributed via booklets .

At the federal level, Megan’s law obliges persons convicted of sex offenses against minors to notify local law enforcement agencies of any changes in their place of residence and work after being released from places of deprivation of liberty (prison, psychiatric hospital). A similar requirement can be established for a certain time (usually about ten years) or temporarily. Some states have the right to keep records of perpetrators of any sexual offense, even if it was not completely related to the child. This felony in most states is done with the goal of not updating and not keeping a permanent record.

Both laws are aimed at both informing the public and informing law enforcement officials. The question of what to provide as accounting information and how it depends on the power of a particular state, and in some, the requirements have changed many times after the adoption of the Megan Act. So the law of Adam Walsh Megan supplemented the law with new requirements for accounting and a three-level classification system for sex offenders.

Content

History

The predecessor of Megan's Law was Jacob Wetterling's Law , which was adopted in the same 1994, introduced a requirement for compulsory registration of persons who have committed sexual offenses , but access was limited only to law enforcement officials, although it was allowed to release information in cases where this was used to protect the population. [1] [3] However, following the widespread rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kank by Jesse Timmendekas , a neighbor who had previously been convicted twice for sex crimes against minors, Megan's parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka, announced a crusade to bring about legislative changes. , demanding that it be obligatory to notify the public of persons who have committed sexual offenses, since the registration introduced by the law of Wetterling turned out to be an insufficient measure of protection. They pointed out that if they had known the criminal side of Timmendekas’s life, their daughter would have been alive now. [1] [4] Member Paul Kramer In 1994, he ensured the introduction of a package of seven bills into the General Assembly of New Jersey first called Meghan's Law. [4] The bill was passed 89 days after Megan’s death, making it mandatory to notify the public of the proximity of persons convicted of sex crimes . [5] Before the Megan tragedy, only five states, in accordance with the Wetterling Act, kept records of sex offenders. [one]

New Jersey law became the basis for subsequent federal law, a draft of which Congressman Dick Zimmer submitted to the US House of Representatives . [5] On May 17, 1996, US President Bill Clinton signed Megan Federal Law, which amended the Wetterling Act. [2] [6]

Megan International Law

On February 8, 2016, US President Barack Obama signed the Megan International Law, which introduced mandatory notification to law enforcement agencies of those states where a sex offender is going to come to the United States. [7] [8] [9] The law requires the departing person to receive a special visual “unique identifier”, which is entered in the passport, and also to notify law enforcement authorities 21 days before the intended departure. [ten]

Public Alert

US states differ in their approaches to disclosing sex offenders. In some states, they are made publicly known through Megan Law websites. In others, only the most dangerous criminals are in the public domain, and the rest of the accountable persons are available only to law enforcement officials. [11] In accordance with the law of Adam Walsh, exclusion from open access of accountable persons of level I after release is allowed. [12] This does not apply to other categories. [11] This prompted some registered individuals to move to states where the specified minimum requirements are met. [13]

Criticism

Some people express their doubt that keeping records of sex offenders is a good idea because they consider the current criteria limited and ambiguous. [14] Some researchers noted an insignificant statistical change in the trend of sex crimes after the introduction of databases of registration of persons who committed them. [15] [16] [17] [18] Others suggest that relapse can be reduced by applying Walsh's law [19] [20] , while only a few have found a statistically significant increase in the number of juvenile delinquency after the introduction of this law. [14] [21] The Office of Justice Programs noted that it is possible that sex offenders were accounted for and that notification requirements were implemented without prior empirical justification for their suitability. [14]

Women Against Registry [22] , Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. [23] [24] [25] [26] and Human Rights Watch [27] [28] considered the enacted law to be too vague and a good excuse for the Vigilantes .

Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers spoke out against arbitrary registration of sex offenders without a preliminary scientific assessment of the risk of relapse. [29] [30]

The lawyer for the victims of rapists, Patty Wetterling, also criticized . [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36]

See also

  • Jessica's Law
  • Jonathan's Law
  • Sarah Payney's Law
  • List of inscribed laws
  • Registration of persons who have committed sexual offenses

Notes

  1. ↑ 1 2 3 4 Wright, 2014 .
  2. ↑ 1 2 Public Law 104-145 (neopr.) . 104th Congress. Date of appeal September 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Neopr.) 246-247. One Hundred Third Congress of the United States of America (1995).
  4. ↑ 1 2 Trenton Races To Pass Bills On Sex Abuse , The New York Times (August 30, 1994). Date of treatment September 9, 2015.
  5. ↑ 1 2 Parents of little girl who inspired Megan's Law recall brutal rape, murder of their daughter 20 years later , New York Daily News (July 27, 2014).
  6. ↑ Clinton Signs Tougher "Megan's Law" , All Politics (17 May 1996).
  7. ↑ Statement by the Press Secretary on HR 515, HR 4188, S. 2152 (neopr.) . WhiteHouse.gov (February 8, 2016).
  8. ↑ Obama signs International Megan's Law , NJ.com (February 8, 2016).
  9. ↑ Moody, Chris . House prepares for rare votes on standalone bills to curb human trafficking , Yahoo! News (May 20, 2014). Date of treatment May 21, 2014.
  10. ↑ S.1867 - International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders (neopr.) . Congress.gov - 114th Congress (2015-2016).
  11. ↑ 1 2 Megan's Law by State (Neopr.) . Klaas Kids Foundation. Date accessed August 21, 2015.
  12. ↑ Registry Requirement FAQs (neopr.) . Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending. Date of treatment December 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ Portland: Sex offender magnet? , Portland Tribune (February 14, 2013).
  14. ↑ 1 2 3 Chapter 8: Sex Offender Management Strategies (Neopr.) . Office of Justice Programs - Sex Offender Management and Planning Initiative (SOMAPI) (2012).
  15. ↑ Zevitz, 2006 .
  16. ↑ Vasquez, Maddan, Walker, 2007 .
  17. ↑ Levenson, Tewksbury, 2009 .
  18. ↑ Prescott, Rockoff, 2011 .
  19. ↑ Duwe, Donnay, 2008 .
  20. ↑ Sex offender sentencing in Washington State: Has community notification reduced recidivism? (unspecified) . Washington State Institute for Public Policy (December 2005).
  21. ↑ Studies question effectiveness of sex offender laws , Science Daily (August 30, 2011).
  22. ↑ Missouri Sex Offenders: "Women Against Registry" Says Labels Unfairly Destroy Lives , RFT .
  23. ↑ Group calls for moratorium on sex offender registry after killings , South Carolina Radio Network (July 29, 2013). Archived December 16, 2014.
  24. ↑ National conference aims to soften, reform sex offender laws , KOAT (Aug 29, 2012). Date of treatment November 14, 2014.
  25. ↑ Restricted Group Speaks Up, Saying Sex Crime Measures Go Too Far , The New York Times (October 1, 2013). Date of treatment November 14, 2014.
  26. ↑ We can do better on sex offender laws , The Dallas Morning News (July 17, 2014). Date of treatment November 14, 2014.
  27. ↑ No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US , Human Rights Watch (September 11, 2007). Date of treatment February 21, 2011.
  28. ↑ Raised on the Registry: The Irreparable Harm of Placing Children on Sex Offender Registries in the US Human Rights Watch 2013 ISBN 978-1-62313-0084
  29. ↑ The Registration and Community Notification of Adult Sexual Offenders (neopr.) . http://www.atsa.com . Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (April 5, 2010). Date of treatment November 14, 2014.
  30. ↑ Sexual Offender Residence Restrictions (Neopr.) . http://www.atsa.com . Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (April 5, 2010). Date of treatment November 14, 2014.
  31. ↑ Wright, 2014 , p. 101-106.
  32. ↑ Patty Wetterling questions sex offender laws , CityPages News (March 20, 2013). Archived on November 13, 2014.
  33. ↑ Patty Wetterling: The harm in sex-offender laws , Sacramento Bee (September 14, 2007). Archived on May 14, 2013.
  34. ↑ Sex offender laws have unintended consequences , MPR news (18 June 2007). Date of treatment November 16, 2014.
  35. ↑ Sex Offender Laws Have Gone Too Far , Slate (August 11, 2014). Date of treatment November 16, 2014.
  36. ↑ Reforming the Registry , Slate (August 15, 2014). Date of treatment November 16, 2014.

Literature

  • Duwe G., Donnay W. The Impact of Megan's Law on Sex Offender Recidivism: The Minnesota Experience // Criminology. - 2008. - Vol. 46, No. 2 . - P. 411–446. - DOI : 10.1111 / j.1745-9125.2008.00114.x .
  • Levenson JS, Cotter LP The Effect of Megan's Law on Sex Offender Reintegration // Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice . - 2005. - Vol. 21, No. 1 . - P. 49–66. - DOI : 10.1177 / 1043986204271676 .
  • Levenson JS, D'Amora DA, Hern AL Megan's law and its impact on community re-entry for sex offenders // Behavioral Sciences & the Law . - 2007. - Vol. 25, No. 4 . - P. 587-602. - DOI : 10.1002 / bsl.770 . - PMID 17620324 .
  • Levenson JS, Tewksbury R. Collateral Damage: Family Members of Registered Sex Offenders // American Journal of Criminal Justice. - 2009. - Vol. 34, No. 1-2 . - P. 54–68. - DOI : 10.1007 / s12103-008-9055-x .
  • Prescott JJ, Rockoff JE Do Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws Affect Criminal Behavior? // Journal of Law and Economics . - 2011. - Vol. 54, No. 1 . - P. 161–206. - DOI : 10.1086 / 658485 .
  • Vasquez BE, Maddan S., Walker JT The Influence of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws in the United States: A Time-Series Analysis // Crime & Delinquency . - 2007. - Vol. 54, No. 2 . - P. 175–192. - DOI : 10.1177 / 0011128707311641 .
  • Welchans S. Megan's Law: Evaluations of Sexual Offender Registries // Criminal Justice Policy Review . - 2005. - Vol. 16, No. 2 . - P. 123-140. - DOI : 10.1177 / 0887403404265630 .
  • Wright RG Sex offender laws: failed policies, new directions . - Second edition. - Springer Publishing Co Inc , 2014 .-- 408 p. - ISBN 9780826196712 .
  • Zevitz RG Sex Offender Community Notification: Its Role in Recidivism and Offender Reintegration // Criminal Justice Studies. - 2006. - Vol. 19, No. 2 . - P. 193–208. - DOI : 10.1080 / 14786010600764567 .
  • Zgoba K., Dalessandro M., Veysey B., Witt P. Megan's Law: Assessing the Practical and Monetary Efficacy // National Criminal Justice Reference Service . - 2008.

Links

  • Relapse of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 (USDOJ government study)
  • Facts about Megan's Law and Sex Offenders in New York State (Summary of NY Dept. of Corrections study)
  • The Angry Offender (Integrates Megan's Law effects with data from USDOJ and NYDOC studies)
  • Megan's Law Official Website for California
  • Megan's Law ineffective, study says (by Andrew Vachss in , Inquirer Trenton Bureau , February 7, 2009)
  • Politics and Irrelevance: Community Notification Statutes
  • Megans-Law.net
Source - https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Megan law&oldid = 101347763


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