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Children have become victims to sexual abuse in our society. How can we stop it? Some believe that Megan s Law is the answer. They feel that they have the right to know when possible danger is lurking on their streets. Others feel that a law of this sort is unnecessary and useless. Megan s Law was passed on January 3, 1996.
Safety for our children was raised after an innocent seven-year-old child was raped and murdered by a former convicted sex offender who lived across the street. Megan s Law states that citizens have the right to know when a former sex offender has moved into their neighborhood. It was passed to prevent any incident, like Megan s, from happening again. Supporters of Megan s Law feel that sex offender s are mentally ill and unfit to live in society.
Criminals are put into society with a label that they earned themselves. This enables others not to associate and involve them as if they were regular citizens. This will prevent the sex offenders from leading any normal life that is undeserved. It is a proven fact that out of all crimes commited, sex offenders are the most likely to repeat their act over and over again. Megan s Law is set up to hopefully prevent this from happening. Since sex offenders strive off of secrecy, Megan s Law strips them of this right.
By making them known to all of society it is very difficult for them to commit any type of sexual crime. They will have to live in fear of every eye in the neighborhood on them. Megan s Law has been proven effective. In California a woman had seen a man playing in the community pool with children. After browsing through Megan s Law CD-ROM, she discovered that he was a former sex offender.
The man had been violating his probation. In result he was sentenced to six years in prison. The information that was available for this woman prevented a serious crime from occurring. Other individuals have recognized former sex offenders also.
People have been shocked to find out that their coaches, babysitters, youth leaders, and park employees have been former sex offenders. Megan s Law brings about a feeling of security, but is it constitutionally fair? A judge from Erie County Pennsylvania doesn t seem to think so. Judge Connelly states that Megan s Law is unconstitutional because defendants have to prove they are not sexually violent predators. An accused sex offender is released back into society after they have been rehabilitated.
What gives us the right to set a second sentence on them? Megan s Law makes it impossible for them to lead a normal life. It also sets the accused up for harassment and vigilantism. There have been several incidents of these types of acts across the country. According to Karen Alexander in May of 1997 of a Newsweek article entitled Sex abuse: A Report from the Front of the War on Predators, In California, residents responded to a neighboring sex offender by firebombing his car. There was also a retired military man who was forced out of his home after neighbors burned a cross in his yard.
These acts of hatred are just two among many others that are aimed towards sex offenders. The knowledge of former sex offenders to all causes torture and hatred in their lives. Let s not forget about the innocently accused. Everyday there are people being accused of crimes that they have not committed. After a person who has served his undeserved punishment he still has to come back into society only to face hatred and harassment. The hatred brought out by this law has erupted mob chaos.
In New Jersey, an innocent resident who resembled a sex offender was attack and beaten by 250 mob members. If we are told that a sex offender is living next door, it is only going to bring fear among everyone. This law can not prevent offenders from repeating their crimes. It is our responsibility to already be teaching our children not to talk to strangers.
Knowing that a sex offender is close by does not really matter unless we are willing to keep our children locked up inside at all times. There are better ways that we can prevent sex offenders from harming our children. The punishment that we use now is not effective. If it were, then we would not need to use Megan s Law as a band-aid to cover up the holes that our laws fail to. Instead we should be giving sex offenders longer and stricter punishments. Perhaps if there is a fear that former sex offenders will act out again, we could require them to take counseling.
Counseling would provide regular monitoring and continuation of rehabilitation after their jail release. Another answer to eliminating the desires of sexual offenders is chemical and / or permanent castration. Chemical castration is less extreme and is performed by injecting a chemical inside the male or female and eliminates all sexual desires. This procedure is not permanent, so it is only useful as a probation sentence. Even then the sex offender needs to take the medication himself. As soon as he stops the treatments his desires come back.
This procedure is currently been used in states such as Texas. Many former sex offenders have requested permanent castration, in return for a normal life in society. In California there has been a law passed under the Penal Code. It requires all first time sex offenders to be chemically castrated if their victims are thirteen years old or younger. In conclusion, we should just keep sex offenders off the streets.
We need to punish those who have been caught. Those who have served their time should have the right to prove themselves before we judge them. Megan s parents have the right to be angry for their lack of awareness. No matter how necessary they think this law is, it will not prevent the crafty offenders from watching and waiting for just the right moment to strike again.
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Research essay sample on Back Into Society Megan Law
