Megan's Law

[© tweed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan%27s_Law

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

I support it.

[CARLHAYDEN]

I must note that I strongly support 'Meagan's law.'

With that said, I wonder how long it will take before Alcon begins fulminating at and about me?

[Nym90]

I strongly support it.

[Alcon]

Strongly support

[MODU]

Strongly support

[MaC]

I know people are gonnabe pissed with my response, but...
What about people who've been sex offenders once, paid their debt to society (through jail and/or menial labor) and just want to go back to society and be left alone?  Should they be hounded by neighbors and be pariahs of society?  What if they undergo psychiatric treatment and are cured?  Should they still have to go around with the humiliation hanging over them?

[Nym90]

I know people are gonnabe pissed with my response, but...
What about people who've been sex offenders once, paid their debt to society (through jail and/or menial labor) and just want to go back to society and be left alone?  Should they be hounded by neighbors and be pariahs of society?  What if they undergo psychiatric treatment and are cured?  Should they still have to go around with the humiliation hanging over them?

Well, first off, I'm not convinced that sexual predators can be cured.

Secondly, I agree that in some cases Megan's Law could go overboard; if someone is convicted of something like indecent exposure for peeing in public while they are drunk, it's not really fair or logical to put them on the same level as someone who rapes little boys.

But overall, I feel that it is information that people should deserve to have about someone who is living in their neighborhood. Obviously it can become a sticky issue given what kind of things can get someone on the sex offender list, but I don't see these types of offenses as overall being in the same category as most other crimes.

[YRABNNRM]

I suppose that it's a good thing that it exists but there's something inside me, my Victor Hugo side I suppose, that believes if we force these people to register we are further outcasting them from society, thus forcing them to continue their behaviors that they inherited from prison or before hand. If they're not going to be fully accepted back into society after they served their time why should they bother rehabilitating themselves? They will always be "that pervert down the road" to their neighbors, if they can even get neighbors.

I do feel awfully sorry for those that come out of prison, after serving their time, intending on restarting their life and becoming a productive members of society but cannot due to their further alienation.

That being said, I am disgusted by the actions of a majority sex offenders and most of them are vile monsters but I feel their punishment should be hard jail time. Until then, Megan's Law will have to suffice.

[MaC]

I know people are gonnabe pissed with my response, but...
What about people who've been sex offenders once, paid their debt to society (through jail and/or menial labor) and just want to go back to society and be left alone?  Should they be hounded by neighbors and be pariahs of society?  What if they undergo psychiatric treatment and are cured?  Should they still have to go around with the humiliation hanging over them?

Well, first off, I'm not convinced that sexual predators can be cured.

Secondly, I agree that in some cases Megan's Law could go overboard

I think it's likely to go overboard, and that's my main argument.

Still, who's to say that you can't cure a sexual predator with Freudian psychoanalysis?  If done well, it can be incredibly effective.

(second a lot of what AndrewBerger said, in that he posted while I was typing)

[YRABNNRM]

I referenced Victor Hugo in my above post. I thought it would just be interesting to point out that today's equilavent of Jean Valjean (the redeemed bread thief from Les Miserables who is constantly hounded out due to his past for those who are unaware) would practically be a sex offender. Look at how well these lyrics from the musical version of the tale would compare with what sex offenders have to do these days...

Now every door is closed to me
Another jail, another key
Another chain
For when I come to every town
They check my papers and they find the mark of Cain
In their eyes,
I see their fear;
"We do not want you here!"

So now I know how freedom feels
A jailer always at your heels
It is the law!
This piece of paper in my hand
Which makes me cursed throughout the land
It is the law!
Like a cur, I walk the street
The dirt beneath their feet...

This outcasting of Valjean leads to him returning to his ways of theft, much like what I was talking about in my post before. If we alienate those who have served their time, what stops them from returning to their old ways?

Of course, Valjean didn't molest any kids. He stole bread to save his family and went on to become a religious, loving, compassionate man but it's just something interesting I thought of.

[John Dibble]

I've got mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, a good number of the people who make the list do strike again, so I think people should be able to know who these people are in order to take the right precautions. On the other hand, the list can be highly detrimental to those who honestly want to change their ways or those who didn't commit that big of a crime(say someone who had sex with a 15 year old at age 17 and got charged with statuatory rape).

I think the best solution would be to stipulate that one can be removed from the list if they keep their nose clean for a certain period of time(say 10 years) and pass a psychological evaluation or perhaps in some of the lesser cases(like the one above) a judge and/or jury deems the person to not be a real sexual predator.

[adam]

Definitely a good thing to me. These sex offenders (do note that my definition of sex offender is rapist, not "consesual rapists" as seen in John Dribble's post) do not deserve a normal life.

[Jake]

Yes, and it needs to be extended to cover all felonies.

[YRABNNRM]

Yes, and it needs to be extended to cover all felonies.

You might as well make all felonies have mandatory life sentences then.

[Gabu]

I'm largely ambivalent towards it.  On one hand, I agree that it is good for those who truly can't be rehabilitated to at least know about their presence.  On the other hand, you get stories like that guy in Maine who was murdered because some guy found out he was a sex offender.

It is, unfortunately, one of those standard of judgement issues: too lenient a treatment lets through those who cannot be rehabilitated, but too harsh a treatment holds back those who can (or already are).  It's impossible to enact something that is perfect, because there will always be that grey area.

I support Megan's Law because it likely saves more people than it hurts, and as such, is probably the best option available, but I can't say I strongly support it purely because I know very well that it is likely to ruin the lives of those who honestly could have made a new start.

[Frodo]

I strongly support it, as anyone in the mainstream of modern society (regardless of their political or ideological orientation) would. 

[??????????]

I strongly support it, as anyone in the mainstream of modern society (regardless of their political or ideological orientation) would. 

^^^^^^^^^^^

I wonder what Trollpebo is going to say?

[Gabu]

I strongly support it, as anyone in the mainstream of modern society (regardless of their political or ideological orientation) would. 

You say that as if it's a bad thing to be out of the mainstream.

[MasterJedi]

I strongly support it, as anyone in the mainstream of modern society (regardless of their political or ideological orientation) would. 

^^^^^^

[Nym90]

I'm largely ambivalent towards it.  On one hand, I agree that it is good for those who truly can't be rehabilitated to at least know about their presence.  On the other hand, you get stories like that guy in Maine who was murdered because some guy found out he was a sex offender.

It is, unfortunately, one of those standard of judgement issues: too lenient a treatment lets through those who cannot be rehabilitated, but too harsh a treatment holds back those who can (or already are).  It's impossible to enact something that is perfect, because there will always be that grey area.

I support Megan's Law because it likely saves more people than it hurts, and as such, is probably the best option available, but I can't say I strongly support it purely because I know very well that it is likely to ruin the lives of those who honestly could have made a new start.

That's true, but the scientific evidence I've seen on this leads me to believe that sexual predators really can't be rehabilitated. If that's not the case, I'd be willing to reconsider my position, of course.

[Emsworth]

"Megan's Law" is a highly peculiar way of dealing with dangerous sex offenders. We decide that we must let them out onto the streets, but that we must warn their neighbors of the danger they pose. This, supposedly, is the best means of protecting society. Would it not be more straightforward to simply keep them locked up in jail for a longer period of time?

If an individual has committed such a heinous act that he is clearly beyond rehabilitation, then he should simply be imprisoned for life. There is no reason for which rapists and child molestors should be shown leniency. And if his crime is not so severe, if he can truly be rehabilitated, then what is the need for putting his name on a sex offender list? But state legislatures, in their infinite wisdom, have taken a different approach.

[YRABNNRM]

"Megan's Law" is a highly peculiar way of dealing with dangerous sex offenders. We decide that we must let them out onto the streets, but that we must warn their neighbors of the danger they pose. This, supposedly, is the best means of protecting society. Would it not be more straightforward to simply keep them locked up in jail for a longer period of time?

I agree.

[opebo]

Obviously I oppose this travesty.

[TeePee4Prez]

Yes, but there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to minor-adult relations.  Of course Megan's Law should apply to a 40 year old wearing a trenchcoat hanging out near a playground looking at grade school kids, but some early 20 something caught with a 15-16 year old should not have to go through registering and letting all your neighbors know you're a sex offender.  I support, but I'm not gonna say strongly.