Megan Law Limitations

May 18, 2004

For years sex offender laws have been getting out of hand and become increasingly detrimental on the convicted offenders' lives. Sex offenses can be anything from incestual activites to walking outside butt naked. In some states even consensual sexual activites between people who are less than a year apart in age can be considered a sex offense.

The current registration laws force sex offenders to register, in most states, for life. The governement says this is ok, it is ok to violate the constitutional rights of sex offenders because the safety of children comes before that of convicted sex offenders. However, since the enactment of Megan's Law, all that has happened is an increased amount of vigilantism against sex offenders and in some cases even murder. Sex offender suicide rates are up, and the "victims" rates are too, yet guess what hasn't changed. . .the amount of sex offenses actually acurring. Why is that??? BECAUSE MOST SEX OFFENSES HAPPEN WITHIN YOUR OWN FAMILY OR CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. In other words a sex offense is more likely to happen from someone you KNOW than someone you DON'T. All placing one time sex offenders on some big list has done is create a false sense of security and meaninglessly decreassed the possibility of an ex-offender maintaining a societal purpose or long term employment. In fact, many sex offenders now are more likely to commit other crimes because they feel isolated from society, and with good reason. Most states don't allow theese tax paying citzens to vote, live in certain areas, live in public housing communities, participate in certain forms of employment (including jobs unrelated to the crimes committed) and the right to due process.

The current laws violate many constitutionally guaranteed rights, and Human Rights (as declared by the United Nations) including the right against "Cruel and Unusual Punishment", the right to a "Jury Trial & Due Process before the law", and the right to privacy. Many sex offenders on lists have been attacked, fired, ridiculed, outcasted or even murdered as a direct result of their listing in the sex offense data base. The overall result. . .more crime without actually reducing the risk to children and further alienism of people accuased of ANY sex offense. There needs to be limitations to who is considered a sex offender, and furthermore limitations to how long any sex offender can be listed as such. Lifetime registration requirements are higly unfair, I would be much more worried about a convicted murderer moving to town than someone who had sex as a 20 year old with someone who was 16 and lied about their age, but as the law currently reads. . .the 20 year old has a lifetime sentence of sex offense registration despite being no real danger to society, while the murderers records can be sealed, is not held against him/her after sentence is served and is allowed help integrating back into society.

When will this end, when will the United States stop singling out sex offenders as one giant group of "immoral and devious" people for the rest of their lives. How are people placed on internet websites with every personal detail about them from hair color to address ever supposed to regain any type of status or image in community. . .it's simple, they can't. . .It's 7-11, McDonalds or Wal Mart for life, take your pick, and be carefull. . .after all you have to pay all those sex offender fees so you have to make sure you can get enough hours at minimum wage to pay them at one of the jobs. I mean c'mon, sex offender for life because of incest, or a lie about ones' age, sodomy, prostitution, soliciting prostitution, lewd and lascavious activities, the list goes on and on. If you are going to single out a list for dangerous people, it should include criminals convicted of armed robberies and murder as well as other violent crimes too, and only the most violent/repeat sexual offenders should have to register, and even them if they stay clean for 10 years (the length of a bankruptcy) should be given another chance at life. If it were your son who at a young age had sex with someone who was barely under 18, would your opinion be different then.

Many people don't realize how unfair or unconstitutional a law is until it happens to them or someone they know, so put yourself in the sex offenders shoes for just one second. . .think to yourself if this was me who made this mistake, would this punishment be fair? Remember, when we as a society isolate someone to public humiliation (I.E. Sex Offender Registration), we harm not only the sex offender, but his/her family, friends, employers, lawyers, doctors, dentists, landlords and other service providers as well.