A new federally-funded study on sex offenses concludes that Megan's Law hasn't deterred repeat sexual offenders and that costs associated with implementing the law may not be justified. Conducted in New Jersey, the state that initiated the now nationwide Megan's Law campaign, the study found that while Megan's Law has made it easier to find sex offenders, it hasn't changed the types of sex crimes committed or decreased the number of victims.
Named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl raped and murdered in 1994 by a neighbor who had twice been convicted of sexual offenses, Megan's Laws have been enacted in all 50 states. California's Megan's Law "requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency, and makes it possible for people to get information about the identity and address of registered sex offenders," explains expert Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. As an aid to Los Angeles and California residents, Rodriguez has created a Megan's Law website with links to California's registered sex offender database, links to Megan's Law data bases in other states, useful information about how sexual offenses are prosecuted in California, and valuable tips on protecting your children from sexual predators.
Conducted by the New Jersey Department of Corrections with Rutgers University, the new study used statistical data to evaluate the effect of Megan's law on state crime rates. The study found that while New Jersey spent approximately half a million dollars implementing Megan's Law in 1995, annual costs had climbed to $4 million by 2007. Given the high costs of implementation and negligible effect as a deterrent, some budget-strapped states are taking a closer look at the value of Megan's Law.
However, Megan's mother, Maureen Kanka, told Associated Press reporter Beth DeFalco that Megan's Law was never intended to change sexual predator behavior. "It was to provide an awareness to the public, which it has done." Kanka contends that making parents aware of sexual predators in their midst enables them to better protect their children. Study author, Kristen Zgoba, a research supervisor for the New Jersey Corrections Department, disagreed, telling DeFalco that awareness does not increase safety. "There's no other way to increase safety other than to decrease the likelihood of these crimes taking place."
The study concluded that while registration and notification programs can be helpful, rehabilitation programs for offenders or programs that remove them from the population are more productive. New Jersey's aggressive civil commitment of repeat sex offenders may be more responsible than Megan's Law for the state's sex crimes reduction over the last decade.
