Every five minutes a crime is committed or someone dies; however it doesn’t always have to be. We live in a corporate America where crimes are committed; and about fifty percent of the times the bad guy gets away. Subsequently, the innocent becomes a victim to the murderers, and sex offenders. Leading us to carry out such laws as the, Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, Megan’s Law, and The Lychner Act all which are derived from the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. In hopes that every possible step is taken to help prevent the future victimization of a person (child); theses laws are made. But, there isn’t enough prove to state that they do, but there is enough to say that they aren’t.
On the evening of October 22, 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling, his brother Trevor, and friend Aaron rode their bikes to a local convenience store to rent a movie and pick up snack. While returning home, the boys were startled by a man wearing a mask and carrying a gun. The gunman told the boys to throw their bikes into a nearby ditch and lay face down on the ground. Next he asked each of the boys their age. After the boys responded, he instructed both Trevor and Aaron to run into the woods and warned them not to look back or he would shoot them. As Trevor and Aaron were running away, they glanced back to see the gunman grab Jacob's arm. Jacob is still reportedly not found. The Wetterling Act was later passed by Congress in 1994
Ten months later, in Houston, a real estate agent by the name of Pam Lychner prepared to show a vacant residence to a prospective buyer. Awaiting her at the house was a twice-convicted felon who brutally assaulted her. Her husband arrived and saved her life. She then formed "Justice for All," a victims rights advocacy group that lobbies for tougher sentences for violent criminals. Two years later, as remembrance; after her death Congress passed the Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act of 1996.
On July 29 1994, in hopes of making friends with a new puppy the 7-year-old Meghan Kanka accepted an invitation from a neighbor in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. As it turned out the neighbor was the twice-convicted pedophile, Jesse Timmendequas who use it to setup poor little Meghan. After, luring innocent Meghan into his house he raped her, murdered her, and dumped her body in a nearby park. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed Megan’s Law was later enacted in an effort to provide community notification.
After each of the several crimes took place their laws were put into effect; however questions are raised if it caused a change or not. In a May 1, 2005 Good Housekeeping two-part series article, “Sex offender still lives next door” by Amy Engeler she states “Megan's Law was supposed to protect us from neighborhood predators. But in too many places, kids are still in danger.” “But at the time, California's version of Megan's Law was among the most permissive in the country. Plus, California was doing a poor job of enforcing the requirements they did have: In 2003, 30 to 40 percent of the state's 100,000 convicted sex offenders were missing from the registry.” Engeler continues in the article implying that the law doesn’t help much because there are many cases where a child is no less than a couple of feet away from becoming the next victim.
Fox news article “Who Are the Sex Offenders Next Door?” by Liza Porteus, “Every state, and the federal government, has a Web site with a list of sex offenders. Private entities also run Web sites like www.mapsexoffenders.com, which provide lists of sex offenders in certain areas. According to the latest Bureau of Justice statistics, Carroll is one of more than 386,000 registered sex offenders in the United States.” She adds, “But those are just the ones who have been caught.” Engeler’s statement becomes stronger as Porteus continues “John Evander Couey 46, was arrested in Georgia earlier this month, then brought back to Florida and booked on a probation violation and failure to register his change of address as required of a sex offender.” “Jessica Lunsford was a third grader who was last seen the night of Feb. 23 when she went to bed after attending church.” The innocent 9-year-old was later found dead; sexually assaulted and suffocated (asphyxiation). At this time the Megan’s Law was in action and still had no effect on innocent 9-year-old Jessica since the bad guy got away.
It can be assumed that it main purpose for theses laws is to help the families cope with their loss. Megan’s Law as the other laws strongly encourages the United States of America publicize the information necessary to protect the public concerning a specific person required to register. However, their information is not always posted. In USATODAY, Reporter Wendy Koch in her article “Despite high-profile cases, sex-offense crimes decline” states, “Yet gut-wrenching as these high-profile cases are, they don't tell the whole story of sex offenders in America. They don't reflect the surprisingly good news: Sex crimes against children have dropped dramatically in the last decade. An online national sex-offender registry was launched in July.” She continues “aside from registering offenders, states must now also provide information to the public on offenders' addresses. Congress passed this requirement, known as Megan's Law...” “It did not require states to actively notify the public, such as by letter, but they must make the information available.” Megan’s Law was for the purpose of the people; yet it is law that leaves the people out of the loop.
“The law is not intended to punish the offender and specifically prohibits using the information to harass or commit any crime against the offender. It recognizes that public safety is best served when registered sex offenders are not concealing their location to avoid harassment,” says Jan Wagner in Megan’s Law. “Megan's Law is a pet project of politicians. It makes them look good to support this law but you need to ask them “What are you doing about prevention?”” Wagner continues to implying that for every con or ex-con identified or discovered there are several more that aren’t. If this is what really is occurring we are releasing more predators than we are revealing; thus allowing the Megan’s Law along with the supporting Acts to be America’s false sense of security.
Within Megan's Law: Analysis on Whether It Is Constitutional To Notify The Public Of Sex Offenders Via The Internet author Susan Oakes acknowledged “To date, Congress has not restricted the medium used to achieve the goals of Megan's law. The only federal cases to address the constitutionality of notification and the Internet determined that the state notification statute is constitutional and publishing the names of sex offenders via the Internet is constitutional, provided that public access is limited to those who may potentially encounter the sex offender. This limitation to access is present in the text of Megan's Law. Therefore, Megan's Law is constitutional and using the Internet is an acceptable medium of communication to accomplish this goal.”
In another related article Thousands of sex offenders may not escape public lists in Newsday by Michael Gormley he stated “In New York, more than 3,000 sex offenders would start leaving the lists in January because the state's version of Megan's Law, adopted in 1996, required many offenders to register for just 10 years. Only the most dangerous face lifetime registration and are required to notify police when they move.” It seems that the criminals have more right than those they prey on. There is no disregard against the law and acts against criminals but there is in the case of they could be improved.
Aside from the cons of Megan’s Law some good has to come; a survey taken by the National Crime Victimization Survey and analyzed by Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire estimates that from the year 1993 to 2003 the rate of sexual assault per every 1,000 children in their pre-teen to teenage year has fell to a percentage of 79. In act of strengthening Megan’s Law Wendy Koch USATODAY reporter disclosed “A bipartisan bill is pending in Congress to strengthen Megan's Law. Authored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., it would increase penalties on offenders for non-compliance, require them to give more frequent in-person updates of their addresses and improve information sharing among states. Lawmakers are also proposing other bills to lengthen prison sentences and impose electronic-tracking devices.”
The key to keeping the menaces away from the innocence people is the Megan’s Law, by using websites like Sex Offenders Report and National Alert Registry. Especially in the case of a mother’s gut feeling and an ex con in the presence of her son. In Newsday Nickelodeon Worker Suspected of Abuse a mother had to find out how good it is to have her instinct as well as access to such lewd criminals parading the streets on at the end of her fingertips’ click. “She later checked his name on the state's Megan's Law Web site and found he was a registered sex offender with a listing for “lewd or lascivious acts with child under 14 years.””
Whether the government should or should not allow the ex- convicts to live in the area shouldn’t be up to them, but up to the people. The same people who will be living in such communities with their children, who would want to wander the streets and play with their friends. And, who would rather be aware than unaware for their safety, when shopping, or otherwise. It shouldn’t be governments’ choice to determine if we the people not have a say; that is the message that the parents of the victims to these ex- convicts are trying to get across.
In search of their own justice ex- convicts are now trying to find some leeway in the Megan’s Law, through courts legally. Knowingly how the system is run they can easy say that they need to seek psychological help instead of the obvious, guilty.
In cases of Megan Kanka, Jacob Wetterling, and other innocence child cases, they didn’t have a chance at making things right that, but we do. We made theses laws to assured that the deaths aren’t to be taken as only grieves but as a new line of justice. On behalf of the government safety precautions are to be made with the regards of the families out here in order to protect their love ones. It is bad enough that some of these ex- convicts are released from prison or don’t get caught at least under the Megan’s Law and those that derive from it; however the least we and the government do is improve it.
ABC’s top reporters(I-team) gather together in How Many Sex Offenders Live Near You? to help notify the California Bay Area that unrevealed sexual predators live in the presence of their families and themselves. “The Department of Justice stores information on criminals, including convicted sex offenders and where they now live at a server farm in Sacramento.” They continue, “The state began making the data available to the public when Megan's Law passed.”
Nonetheless, like all good thing this great news is predestined to end. As the article How Many Sex Offenders Live Near You?I-team add, “the catch is, you have to go to your local police department to view the information. It's not online in California the way it is in many other states across the country. So we've taken steps to bring the information to you.”
Megan’s Law :Mega Problems, by Maureen Connor suggests that the law was handled in rushly manner, hence her statement “the law shows the unexpected problems created when well-intentioned legislation is rushed through too quickly. Patience is a virtue when it comes to a well-crafted law.” She continues enlightening the situation “…the New Jersey Legislature, though justified in its actions, acted too fast in drafting Megan's Law, leaving a number of the provisions susceptible to constitutional challenges in the courts.
Conner later makes suggestions as to how the Megan’s Law is to be run. “A better approach is to designate a specific organization--such as the police department--to be responsible for keeping an up-to-date registry of dangerous sex offenders and to ensure that the public has access to it.” She hints, “This approach reduces liability problems for real estate professionals. If clients or customers ask for this information, they can go to one source for the most detailed, comprehensive list of dangerous offenders” in order to get the job done.
Hitting to close to home is the problem that many of these families have to face, at least unknowingly. These families are being are led on false sense of security, preferably the don’t ask don’t tell policy. It is a policy that means what is says, in order for one to know something pivotal to their surrounding or the nature of another’s; they must ask. A bit harsh but true, America’s system sanctions these criminals back on the streets with people and don’t expect to have or seek any interest in how to prevent such incidents as the Jacob Wetterling case of happening again.
Unlike the military, where you are at an age on consent; the children cases are should not be limited to the policy “don’ ask don’t tell”. Because it is for this same reason the laws and acts are passed, for the awareness of the people.
According to Veteran industry observer Tom Dooley, president of TWD Associates, a real estate consulting firm in Arlington Heights, Il., and editor of two monthly newsletters in Industry Watch: Megan’s Law Challenged “…the rights of convicted sex offenders who have served their time and want to avoid new legal requirements and stigma. A ruling is expected in 2003. All 50 states have some version of Megan's Law, but about half do not require individual risk assessments, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The U.S. Justice Department is siding with the Connecticut Department of Public Safety in its appeal.”
Megan’s Law: new risks by Barry Goodman “in sharp contrast, the New York Court of Appeals in January 2000 dismissed a lawsuit, Glazer v. LoPreste, brought against the sellers and salespeople by the buyers because they weren’t told that a convicted sex offender lived across the street. The court ruled that under the doctrine of caveat emptor, neither the sellers nor the salespeople had a duty to disclose this information, since there was no active concealment and the information was available to the buyers in newspapers.” In act of prevail, such lawsuits are made an are won by the people.
Ignorance is among us where we choose to be aware or not. If they are not exposed it would only be doing more harm than good to not just to children, but to our fellow citizens. The sooner America opens it eyes to what going on right under their nose the sooner the crime rates will decrease. And, the safe are environment will feel to this act, but we first have to do something about.
Despite high-profile cases, sex-offense crimes decline by Wendy Koch she reports, “And only a tiny fraction of abuse cases end in murder, says David Finkelhor, director of Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Of the 60,000 to 70,000 arrests each year for sex crimes against children, he says about 40 to 50 involve homicide.”
A member of the I-team, Carey Verse states “Megan's Law, if it's used appropriately, everybody could be aware, we could be aware that we're being watched and keep us on our toes. And also, just help us to communicate better with the public because there's no secrets. You don't have to wonder this guy's a sex offender, if that guy's a sex offender, it's just out in the open.” In the same article Donald Freitas, Antioch Mayor states “Law enforcement has very little control over these sexual offenders. They can literally move into any community that they want. I would prefer the number be going down.”
“Respect thy neighbour” it is a famous cliché, but how could we? How can one do so if they don’t know their neighbours; the problem with it the lack of control under Megan’s Law ? As expected by the I-team “the worst neighborhood in the entire Bay Area is San Jose's 95112 zip code with 296 serious and high-risk sex offenders. It also topped the list in our survey from 2001.
I has been a more than over a century and this “don’t ask to tell” policy for the Megan’s Law is starting to affect several. Not only those who were involved in making it happen and those in support of other laws in which it derived, but those of us trying to live life not the perfect life but a normal one. If a robbery broke loose at a bank and the police officers are told notified when and where it is going to take place; however they would n’t have to worry because they were notified and this will help prevent and oncurring events from happening. And, this is how parents should feel worried enough that there are people like that but less troubled because we have a ystem that should protect them.
In the years each of the laws, Megan, Jacob and Lycher were made their main purpose was to secure those of us and our families from heinous criminals; who still remain privy to those of us and in our surroundings. Forgetting the fact of the matter of which theses laws were made, we would be making a mockery of their deaths if we were to sit, stare, or turn our noses to the reality of what is really going on. America is a good country but it could be better, in fact it should be a better country with a better government and system.
Looking back on the several shocking cases, we have to admit that more can be done, done to stop Mrs. and Mr. John Doe from worrying about there children when they leave the home to go to a friend’s house. The government is runned not by the people, but by those the people chose to help protect their loved ones. And, if their not doing their jobs then the more the people will ge hurt and the more laws will be made to backup the other made before it;therefore leading the justice system to no where.
It not preventing the crimes from ever happening is too much to handle at least support the laws we have. If people have to question the law, or have judgements in which their safety is due then we have found are problem.
While out running the pros to Megan’s Law, the cons are what is needed to be fixed. This law has proven to be the most famous yet it cover is not blow, until now. Megan’s Law appears to be helping a little more than a few families get the information they need;however, it is also hiding the fact that the majority of the ex- convicts living on the outside are those that have not yet been exposed in the system, hence the problem.
