The first web site discussed the origination of Megan's Law in the state of New Jersey. When 7-year old Megan Kanka was sexually assaulted and murdered by a twice-convicted child molester who lived across the street from the Kanka household, legal authorities and Megan's parents raised a very important concern not only for their community, but all communities. They had not known about the sexual offender in their community, nor would they have ever known if Megan hadn't been murdered. How are families supposed to protect their children from sexual offenders in their community without prior notification? Thus came the emergence of Megan's Law, a law requiring all convicted and released sexual offenders to register as a sexual offender prior to moving into a community. The community, which includes law enforcement, educational institutions, and neighborhoods, may then be notified of the sexual offender's presence.

Unfortunately, the process isn't as simple as it may seem on documentation. For the purpose of offenders' rights, suffering from a social stigma is avoided if at all possible. Thus, the sex offender registry is split into three tiers. The first tier includes offenders who have a "low" risk of committing a sexual assault. The second tier includes those who have a "moderate" risk, and the third tier includes those who are at "high" risk. The community's law enforcement is notified of all three tiers, while the neighborhoods are only notified of Tier 3 offenders. Selected institutions, such as parks, childcare centers, and schools are notified of both Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders.

So, who and what are responsible for distributing the offenders to their best-fitted tiers? Who and what determines whether or not an offender is at high, moderate, or low risk for re-offending? Many factors are taken under consideration. The offender's psychological profile is reviewed, as well as criminal background, post-incarceration surveillance, vocational history, substance abuse, level of remorse for convicted criminal acts, and history of stalking locations.

Since the legislation of Megan's Law in New Jersey, several states have adopted some form of Megan's Law in the recent years. Although the principle remains the same, other specifications have been modified. Some states, instead of using the three tiers, divide the offenders into two categories. In the state of Virginia, the two categories are 1) sex offender, and 2) violent sex offender. The crimes that qualify for the term "sex offender" also differ from state to state.

So, what are the actual effects of Megan's Law? How effective has Sex Offender Management become? When running a web search on sex offenders, several web sites on sex offender management and registry appeared. These sites each contain a wealth of information, including the current rehabilitation programs for sex offenders, and actual lists of the sex offender registry, including offenders' names, statuses, history, and addresses. The registries also have to be up to date, and since many of the offenders move around, perhaps because of social stigma, the registries have to be updated quite often. Some are updated annually. Others are updated every 90 days. This begins to amount to a lot of paper work. Is all of it worth the cost?

In "A Citizen’s Guide to Megan’s Law," one question stated, "Are there any other steps I can take to protect my family?" The guide replied, "Yes. There is no law that can ever completely protect us. Adults need to teach children about basic safety precautions. Check with your child’s school to determine whether a program is in place to teach children about strangers. Also, check with the school and other locations where your child spends time on a regular basis to determine whether safety precautions are in place." While it is understandable that, "there is no law that can ever completely protect us," it seems that legislation is telling the citizens to fend for themselves in an area where legislation has obviously failed. It is a known fact that the recidivism rates for sex offenders remain high, and that only includes the percentage of those who are caught re-offending. Because of legislation’s inability to incarcerate sex offenders for longer to life-term sentences, Megan’s Law has become legislation’s attempt to right a wrong. Thus, instead of tackling the root of the problem (that sex offenders should not even be living in a community and should remain separated from society), Megan’s Law is a warning to the citizens that a sex criminal is coming to a neighborhood near you.

Some may argue that the social stigma Megan’s Law assigns to a sex offender shames him, and forbids him to re-offend. However, if the recidivism rate in a community is lowered after the application of Megan’s Law, the geographical behavior of the sex offenders should be analyzed. As stated earlier, many offenders move around to avoid social stigma. Who would want to live in the free world stigmatized as an outcast for a shameful crime? Megan’s Law does not deter sexual re-offending, but instead, serves as sex offender displacement. Offenders may move around until they find a community that does not have Megan’s Law. There they can remain anonymous and not have to live with a social stigma.

In a report reviewing the various rehabilitation programs for sex offenders, it was found that not only are researchers unsure of the etiology of the DSM-IV disorder, pedophilia, but are unsure if their methods are even tackling the problem. Most of the programs have their focus on empathy training. Others run offenders through scenarios and measure their frequency for the likelihood of re-offense. What is more unfortunate is that the researchers are blind to the effectiveness of rehabilitation because the only measurement they have is the recidivism rate, months and years after the offenders are released from their programs. On top of that, if the recidivism rate is lower after the program has been administered, is it because the program was effective or is it because less offenders were apprehended? All of a sudden, Megan's Law doesn't seem to be a solution to the problem at all.

Is Megan's Law pointless? Hardly. If a sex offender was moving into a community, who in the community wouldn't want to know? Megan's Law does not guarantee the safety of citizens, but it does serve as an admonition to the community. Does it in anyway reduce crime or the recidivism rate? No. Megan's Law is just another bandage legislation passed in attempt to cover what is seemingly an everlasting wound.

References:
Megan's Law.
Megan's Law: A Citizen's Guide To Megan's Law.
Pedophilia: A Treatable Disorder?
SexOffender.Com.
Virginia State Police: Sex Offenders/Static/Background.