The Effect of Megan’s Law on Sex Offender Reintegration

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill S. Levenson ◽  
Leo P. Cotter
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offender ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
Offender Reintegration

scholarly journals The War on Sex Offenders: Community Notification in Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Hinds ◽  
Kathleen Daly
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Notification ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Campaign ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Naming And Shaming

This article explores the contemporary phenomenon of “naming and shaming” sex offenders. Community notification laws, popularly known as Megan's Law, which authorise the public disclosure of the identity of convicted sex offenders to the community in which they live, were enacted throughout the United States in the 1990s. A public campaign to introduce “Sarah's Law” has recently been launched in Britain, following the death of eight-year old Sarah Payne. Why are sex offenders, and certain categories of sex offenders, singled out as targets of community notification laws? What explains historical variability in the form that sex offender laws take? We address these questions by reviewing the sexual psychopath laws enacted in the United States in the 1930s and 40s and the sexual predator and community notification laws of the 1990s, comparing recent developments in the United States with those in Britain, Canada, and Australia. We consider arguments by Garland, O'Malley, Pratt, and others on how community notification, and the control of sex offenders more generally, can be explained; and we speculate on the likelihood that Australia will adopt community notification laws.

Megan’s Law 20 Years Later: An Empirical Analysis and Policy Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 1028-1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Zgoba ◽  
Wesley G. Jennings ◽  
Laura M. Salerno
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Risk Group ◽  
High Risk Group ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
Multivariate Logistic Regression ◽  
Recidivism Rates ◽  
Before And After ◽  
General Recidivism

This present study examines the sexual and general recidivism rates of 547 convicted sex offenders released before and after the enactment of Megan’s Law in New Jersey. Presenting the longest Megan’s Law evaluation, participants were followed for an average of 15 years after release (range = 10-29 years). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression equations were estimated to identify covariates significantly associated with both sexual and general recidivism. Group-based trajectories of general recidivism within the 10 years post–prison release were also estimated and compared according to pre–Megan’s Law and post–Megan’s Law release status. No differences in recidivism rates were noted between the cohorts, but differences emerged in the offending trajectories of the high-risk group of offenders within 10 years of release. These results highlight the lack of impact that sex offender registration and notification (SORN) laws have on sexual and general reoffending rates postrelease.

“This Individual May or May Not Be on the Megan’s Law Registry”

2020 ◽  
pp. 235-256
Author(s):  
Jamie J. Fader ◽  
Abigail R. Henson
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
The State ◽  
Compulsory Treatment ◽  
Child Molester ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
Key Features

To examine the unique experiences of reentry for those with a sex offender label, this chapter presents an in-depth case study of “Tony,” who pled guilty to statutory sexual assault at age nineteen. It follows his twelve-year path through the system, highlighting its key features, most notably that the state parole agency did not distinguish between registered and non-registered parolees. Tony was effectively labeled a child molester and subject to draconian restrictions upon where he could live and work; who he could associate with; and what technology he could possess. This has led to a cycle of parole revocations and reincarcerations that may have embedded him permanently in the system. His experiences with parole conditions including compulsory treatment, housing, employment, and social support are reviewed. Implications for the overbroad application of sex offender restrictions are discussed.

Police officer perspectives on the implementation of a sex offender community notification scheme

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Whitting ◽  
Andrew Day ◽  
Martine Powell
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Notification ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Australian State ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

Community notification statutes, popularly known as ‘Megan’s Law’, were passed in rapid succession throughout the United States following the enactment of landmark legislation in the state of Washington in 1990. Calls for the adoption of similar legislation in Australia gained momentum following the introduction of ‘limited disclosure’ schemes in the United Kingdom and, in 2012, one Australian state introduced a limited form of community notification. This study presents an analysis of in-depth interviews with specialist police officers ( N=21) who are responsible for coordinating the ongoing management, registration and monitoring of sex offenders who live in the community in this jurisdiction to understand their perspectives on the scheme’s implementation. Systematic thematic analysis revealed that the officers were particularly interested in understanding the impact that notification has on offenders, victims and the broader community, and the police agency. The practice-based wisdom distilled from these interviews is used to inform a discussion about the more widespread implementation of this type of public policy both in Australia and in other countries that may be giving this consideration.

scholarly journals International Megan's Law as Compelled Speech

2020 ◽  
pp. 1603
Author(s):  
Alexandra Genord
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Federal District ◽  
District Court ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
Strict Scrutiny ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Sex Offense ◽  
United States Code

“The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212b(c)(l).” International Megan’s Law (IML), passed in 2016, prohibits the State Department from issuing passports to individuals convicted of a sex offense against a minor unless those passports are branded with this phrase. The federal government's decision to brand its citizens’ passports with this stigmatizing message is novel and jarring, but the sole federal district court to consider a constitutional challenge to the passport identifier dismissed the plaintiffs’ First Amendment claim, deeming the provision government speech. This Note argues that this passport identifier is more appropriately analyzed as a form of compelled speech, triggering strict scrutiny review that the IML’s passport identifier would not survive.

scholarly journals Reconceptualising ‘risk’: Towards a humanistic paradigm of sexual offending

2021 ◽  
pp. 096466392110329
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie McAlinden
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Real World ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Offending Behaviour ◽  
Algorithmic Approaches ◽  
Offender Reintegration

Within Western criminal justice traditions, the ‘risk’ paradigm has become the defining logic of contemporary laws and policies on sex offender management. This article critically examines the limitations of current technocratic and algorithmic approaches to risk in relation to sexual offending and how they might be addressed. Drawing on nearly two decades of theoretical and empirical research conducted by the author, it applies the learning on sex offender reintegration and desistance to advance a ‘humanistic’ paradigm of sexual offending. The paper attempts to counter some of the dangers of algorithmic justice and shift risk-based discourse away from its predominantly ‘scientific’ origins. It argues that such a move towards a more expansive and progressive version of risk within criminal justice discourses would better capture the realities of sexual offending behaviour and its real-world governance.

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