Megan's Law Essay

Megan’s Law is a federal law that has changed the course of the criminal justice system in the United States of America. Prior to Megan’s law, convicted sex offenders were able to easily re-offend due to lack of public notification. In the year 2000, it is estimated that there were more than 248,000 sexual victimizations and over an 8-year period in the United States there were 366,460 attempted or completed rapes and sexual assaults (Welchans, 2005). The prevalence of sexual assault, rape, and pedophilia in the United States has sparked a large conversation over the last decade, which has led to the creation of several laws, including Megan’s Law. This analysis of Megan’s Law will focus on the positive aspects that implementing this law has

Megan’s Law was enacted under the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994, which required sex offenders to register their offender status with law enforcement agencies (Tewksbury, 2005). Both laws converged to create what is now referred to as “Megan’s Laws” which operates on a state level and requires both the registration of sex offenders and notification to the public. The states themselves decide what information will be posted for the public to see, but typically includes their full name, date of birth, nature of offense, and current photograph of the offender. The law enforcement agency that is in the jurisdiction of where the offender resides is responsible for the distribution of the information to the public. Some agencies prefer to use the old-fashioned method and distribute flyers, pamphlets, or newspapers, while others may take a more technological approach and make Facebook posts as means to notify the public. On a federal level, the offenders are required to notify their local law enforcement agency if they decide to chance places of residence or employment. The amount of time that the offender is required to update law enforcement depends on what tier offender they were classified as when they were

It made a few changes to the current Megan’s Law, like changing how offenders should register and where they were able to register (Harris, et al., 2009). One of the most notable changes that the act proposed was assigning sexual offenders to a tier ranking system, either Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III based on the severity of their conviction. Tier I is the lesser of the classifications, in which someone who was charged with public indecency, an attempt to commit specific federal crimes, or various other charges could be classified as. Tier I offenders are required to register their offender status with local law enforcement agencies for fifteen years, unless they have a clean record, which would then be brought down to ten years. Tier II offenders are classified to be slightly more serious than Tier I, because the nature of offenses for Tier II offenders include possession or distribution or child pornography, soliciting a minor for prostitution, or various other sexual acts including minors. When one is classified as a Tier II offender, they must register with their local law enforcement agency for twenty-five years. Lastly, Tier III offenders are the most serious offenders due to the nature of the crimes consisting of crimes that are punishable by more than one year in prison and aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact against a minor under age 13,