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New Jersey: Megan's Law doesn't work |
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Wednesday, 10 June 2009 03:37 |
"Megan's Law" started in New Jersey. Now a New Jersey study shows a big difference between sex offender "registration" hype and real safety for children.
After a decade when Megan's Law-type sex offender registration became
America's national policy on how to respond to child sexual abuse,
researchers at the New Jersey Department of Corrections have released a
federally-funded report saying the law has had "no effect" reducing
offenses or victims.
Among the report's conclusions:
- Megan's Law showed no demonstrable effect in reducing sexual re-offenses.
- Megan's Law has no effect on the type of sexual re-offense or
first time sexual offense (still largely child molestation/incest).
- Megan's Law has no effect on reducing the number of victims involved in sexual offenses.
The report also verified what most observers know only informally:
approximately 80% of the "registered" sex offender population have child
victims.
Perhaps the least surprising finding of the study is that most
"registred" offenders prey on children in their daily circles of trust,
not strangers.
"Most offenders had an established prior relationship with
their victims, with only 16 percent of cases where the perpetrator was
a stranger. In fact, nearly half (48%) of the perpetrators were family
members, with the remaining crimes committed by either acquaintances of
victims (34%) or victims’ significant others (2%). Further, 43 percent
of offenders lived with their victim(s) and in 77 percent of the cases
the offense(s) were committed in the victim’s or offender’s home
(including shared residence)."
...Which raises the spectre of over half a million "registered" child
predators accessing children undeterred... except for a listing
on the Internet.
PROTECT has said many times that sex offender registry laws, while a shining example of citizen access to useful public records, are not
even remotely a substitute for a real child safety policy. Yet Megan's Law
continues to dominate national policy because of a nearly unstoppable
alliance between the media, politicians and a handful of advocates.
The news media loves Megan's Law because it is easy to understand and
provides an endless supply of great, localized television. Politicians
love Megan's Law because it sounds tough, is cheaper than prison or intensive probation or parole and
guarantees media coverage. Advocates rally around it because that's where the action is. But it's a safe bet that none of these groups will
concern itself much with the New Jersey study.
As for the report's authors, it will be tough for "registration" proponents to attack their motives. Does the New Jersey Department of Corrections just want more inmates behind bars, instead of registrants in the community? That might get results.
Link to Study
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