Megan's Law is named after a 7-year-old Hamilton Township, New Jersey girl named
Megan Nicole Kanka. On July 29, 1994, she was lured into her neighbor's home with the
promise of a puppy and was brutally raped and murdered by a two-time convicted sex
offender who had been convicted in a 1981 attack on a 5-year-old child and an attempted
sexual assault on a 7-year-old. Eighty-nine days after Megan Kanka's disappearance, New
Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman signed the first state-level version of what we
know as Megan's Law. The passage of Megan's Law in New Jersey eventually lead to the
May 1996 passage of a federal law which is also known as Megan's Law.
New Jersey's Megan's Law has specific mandates for active community notification which
ensures that the community will be made aware of the presence of convicted sex offenders
posing a risk to public safety. Under New Jersey's law, if a convicted sex offender is
determined to pose a moderate risk of re-offending then schools and community groups
likely to encounter that offender will be notified. If an offender is determined to
pose a high risk of re-offending, then schools, community groups and members of the
public, such as neighbors likely to encounter the offender, will be notified.
Parents nationwide have been under the false impression that they, too, would be
notified of a resident sexual predator, because of the false assumption that New
Jersey's state law is the same as each individual state's law. The federal version of
Megan's Law is drastically different than New Jersey's version of Megan's Law. The
federal law required all 50 states to release information to the public about known
convicted sex offenders when it was necessary to protect their safety but did not
mandate active notification. If a state failed to comply with minimal release of
information standards established by the federal government, then that state risked
losing federal crime-fighting funding. The federal mandate to release information to
the public is often mistakenly referred to as community notification when, in actuality,
the federal mandate requires just the release of information to the public - not active
notification. There is a significant difference between simply releasing information
(making it available for the public to access on its own) and active community
notification, where law enforcement officers go door to door to inform neighbors and
schools. The federal Megan's Law does not require all 50 states to enact active
notification laws, whereas New Jersey's state Megan's Law has specific requirements for
active community notification.
Sex Offender Registration: Scattered
State Laws Lead To Uniform Federal Mandates
Well before uniform federally mandated registration, 21 states had already implemented
sex offender registry programs. The federal law which mandated uniform sex offender
registration in all 50 states was put into place after the tragic disappearance of
11-year-old Jacob Wetterling and the abductions, brutal sexual assaults and murders of
children across the nation.
The Jacob Wetterling Act
On October 22, 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling bicycled with his brother Trevor, 10,
and friend Aaron 11, to their Minnesota home from a convenience store where they had
rented a video. Their ride home was interrupted by a masked man who stepped out of a
driveway with a gun and ordered the children to throw their bikes into a ditch and lie
face down on the ground. After asking the boys their ages he told Jacob's brother and
friend to run into the woods and not look back or he would shoot them. No arrest was
ever been made and Jacob has never been found. Investigators later learned that,
unbeknownst to local law enforcement, sex offenders were being sent to live in halfway
houses nearby. In February of 1999, four months after Jacob's disappearance, the Jacob
Wetterling Foundation was established by Jacob's parents, Patty and Jerry Wetterling.
Patty was appointed to a Minnesota governor's task force to make recommendations on sex
offender registration. After successfully establishing sex offender registration in
Minnesota, Patty and Jerry Wetterling went on to lobby for federal legislation to
require all 50 states to register resident sex offenders.
The Wetterlings were not alone in their effort to lobby for a uniform federal law to
mandate sex offender registration and some form of public notification. A hearing to
discuss the revolving door of justice was called on March 1, 1994 by the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice.
The hearing was called to discuss the revolving door of justice in the U.S. and new
approaches to recidivism. There were five panels called together - one included victims
and their families.
Testimony was given by Marc Klaas; Peggy, Gene and Jennifer Schmidt; Susan Sweetser, a
Vermont State Senator and rape survivor; and Dick and Diane Adams, whose son, a store
clerk, was killed during an armed robbery. Testimony at that hearing urged the passage
of federal legislation to register and notify communities of the presence of sex
offenders.
Marc Klaas is the father of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, who was kidnapped by a career
criminal at knifepoint from her bedroom slumber party and was later found murdered.
Marc founded Klaas Kids Foundation, a nonprofit children's advocacy organization that
has been instrumental in working for nationwide and international laws to stop crimes
against children.
The foundation provides parental awareness and child-safety information and encourages
partnerships between neighborhoods, law enforcement, organizations and the private
sector to create safe and crime-free communities.
Gene, Peggy and Jennifer Schmidt from Kansas are the father, mother and sister,
respectively, of 19-year-old college student Stephanie Schmidt, who was brutally raped
and murdered by a coworker whom she was not aware was a known convicted sex offender.
The Schmidt family founded SOS (Speak Out For Stephanie) The Stephanie
Schmidt Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to changing laws and
promoting public safety and awareness about sex offenders . The Schmidt family is best
known for their efforts in successfully advocating for nationwide laws that confine
sexual predators indefinitely. These laws are referred to as Sexual Predator Commitment
Laws or Sexual Predator Civil Confinement Laws. Nine months after Stephanie's death, the
Stephanie Schmidt Sexual Predator Act - empowering a state civil commitment procedure -
became a retroactive law for all Kansas sex offenders. Although originating in
Washington State, the Kansas statute reached the U.S. Supreme Court where it was ruled
constitutional in 1997.
Patty Wetterling and these advocates worked tirelessly toward the passage of the Jacob
Wetterling Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act and it was included in the Federal
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The Wetterling Act was signed
into law on September 13, 1994 and required all 50 states to establish effective
registration programs for convicted child molesters and other sexually violent
offenders.
The Wetterling Act also required the states to establish more stringent registration
standards for a subclass of offenders considered the most dangerous, designated under
law as "sexually violent predators." States that failed to comply with the minimum
standards risked a 10% reduction of formula grant funding under the Edward Byrne
Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program . This is federal funding
allocated to states for improving functioning of the criminal justice system with an
emphasis on violent crime and serious offenders.
There was, and continues to be, no federal registration requirement for juvenile sex
offenders, even if they were treated as adults in the criminal justice system. Although
there was no federal requirement, as of 2001, 28 states in the nation register juveniles
adjudicated or convicted of a sex offense - including Arizona, Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon,
Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and
Wisconsin. Only California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and
Vermont prohibit the release of this information to the public and the remaining states
authorize notification in some or all cases.
The Wetterling Act also gave states the discretion to decide whether to release sex
offender registration information to the public but did not make it a requirement. The
following is an excerpt pertaining to the release of sex offender information from The
Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act:
(d) Release Of Information
The designated state law enforcement agency
and any local law enforcement agency authorized by the state agency may release relevant
information that is necessary to protect the public concerning a specific person
required to register under this section…
The carefully crafted joining of the two words may and release gave states the
discretion to decide whether to release relevant information to protect the public.
Conversely, it also gave permission for law enforcement not to release information to
the public even if the sex offender was determined to pose a high risk to public safety.
Law enforcement agencies and state agency staff across the nation have reported
reluctance to release information and notify communities of resident sex offenders for
fear of community unrest, liability and concern over potential constitutional challenges
that were thought to have to be worked out in our courts.
The Wetterling Act is best known for establishing uniform federal minimal standards for
registration of convicted sex offenders in all 50 states. As discretionary in nature as
it was, for the first time in the history of the United States, it gave all states the
discretion to release relevant information to the public about convicted sex offenders
who posed a risk to public safety.
An additional catalyst to the passage of The Jacob Wetterling Act was the July 29, 1994
brutal rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka.
Megan's Law
On Friday July 29, 1994, Megan Nicole Kanka disappeared. With the promise of a
puppy, her neighbor lured her into his home where he raped, strangled and suffocated
her. Her body was stuffed into a plastic toy chest and dumped in a nearby park . Megan
had been killed by a two-time convicted pedophile who lived across the street from the
Kanka home and was sharing his house with two other convicted sex offenders he met in
prison.
Sparked by community outrage, petitions began circulating throughout the state of New
Jersey demanding the right to be made aware of sexual predators.
Megan's parents, Maureen and Richard Kanka, had gathered more than 430,000 signatures,
and 89 days after Megan's disappearance the first state law that mandated active
community notification was signed into law, New Jersey's Megan's Law.
The Kankas started the Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation and are involved with many projects
that focus on promoting safety for our children. Maureen Kanka, a well-known figurehead
and respected child advocate, travels the country to speak to concerned citizen groups
about dangers to children, the need to educate families, and lures used by sexual
predators who target children. Maureen is a tremendous support to the Parents For
Megan's Law agency and I sincerely thank her for all that she has done to help me and
our organization.
After Megan's tragic death, Maureen and Richard Kanka lobbied to put into place a
federal law requiring all 50 states to notify the community of the presence of sex
offenders who posed a risk to public safety. The Kankas were joined in their lobbying
efforts by powerful advocates such as Marc Klaas, Patty Wetterling, John Walsh and many
other advocates and victims nationwide. They were victorious on May 17, 1996, when a
federal version of Megan's Law became enacted.
In attendance that day was one of the nation's most powerful advocates, John Walsh,
father of 6-year-old Adam Walsh, who was abducted on July 27, 1981 and later found
murdered. The prime suspect in Adam's murder, Ottis Toole, was never charged in the Adam
Walsh case; he died in prison while serving life for other crimes. John fights back on
television's "America's Most Wanted," (www.amw.com) by helping to bring justice to other
crime victims. The work by John and his wife, Reve, led to the passage of the Missing
Children Act of 1982 and The Missing Children's Assistance Act of 1984. The latter bill
founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Myth: The Federal Megan's Law Requires Law Enforcement To Inform You If A
Sexual Predator Moves In Next Door.
The federal version of Megan's Law that was
signed on May 17, 1996, does not mandate community notification. Most people have been
under the false impression that the law requires nationwide law enforcement agencies to
actively notify the community if a high-risk sexual predator moves in. In fact, this is
simply just not the case. The federal version of Megan's Law requires all 50 states to
release information, but by no means does it require that your law enforcement agency
actively notify you if a sex offender moves in next door.
Before becoming so involved with Megan's Law on a community level, I too was under the
false impression that the police had to knock on my door if a sexual predator lived next
door. I discovered this shocking truth after parents from across the nation discovered
resident sexual predators next door to them after searching the
www.parentsformeganslaw.com Web site. They had a Megan's Law in their state, but had
not been notified that they lived, in some cases, right next door to them. One
unsuspecting, Florida woman's young daughter was playing computer games with the
next-door neighbor for weeks before she discovered that he was a registered sexual
predator who had targeted young girls the same age as her daughter.
After so many tragic and high-profile childhood victimizations and deaths and subsequent
community uproars, our lawmakers gave us the right to know by providing us Megan's Law.
So, how is it that sexual predators can be living right next door to you and you would
not know?
It will help you to understand better by referring back to an excerpt pertaining to the
release of sex offender information from the first federal law requiring sex offender
registration and authorizing the release of that information, The Jacob Wetterling
Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act:
(d)
Release Of Information
The designated state law enforcement agency and any local
law enforcement agency authorized by the state agency may release relevant information
that is necessary to protect the public concerning a specific person required to
register under this section…
The federal version of Megan's Law (not the N.J. law) simply amended The Jacob
Wetterling Act by changing the language as follows:
(d) Release Of Information
The designated state law enforcement agency and
any local law enforcement agency authorized by the state agency may SHALL release
relevant information that is necessary to protect the public concerning a specific
person required to register under this section…
The Jacob Wetterling Act only authorized state agencies and their designees to release
information and Megan's Law changed the "may" release to "shall" release.
Although Megan's Law changed The Jacob Wetterling Act to require the release of
information, it still did not guarantee an active notification - but only the release of
information. The federal law currently only requires all 50 states to release
information but does by no means make a requirement to actively notify. That is how a
sexual predator can move in next door to you and you might not get actively notified.
May Actively Notify vs. Shall Actively Notify, What's The Big
Deal?
Let's take a closer look at why there is such a significant
difference between active community notification and passive release of information.
The federal Megan's Law strongly encourages all 50 states release information that is
necessary to protect the public concerning a specific person required to register .
However, information may be released in many different ways. I have broken the release
of information into two separate categories: passive release and active release.
The passive release of information is a form of release where we, in the general public,
have to take action to obtain the information. Examples of passive release include
making the information available via state listings, registry books or CD ROMS available
for viewing at local law enforcement agencies, state agency and/or local police Internet
sites, state per-call fee 900 numbers or no-fee 800 numbers. I call this form of
release of information the passive betrayal, because somehow we have been led to believe
that the passive release of information is the same as active notification, which it is
definitely not.
Those in government protecting the passive betrayal secret will actually go on the
record with statements to the public, and even to the unknowing press, alluding that the
release of information is basically the same as active notification.
Examples
Of Passive Release Of Information (You Have To Take An Action)
State Internet Sex
Offender Registry Sites - Not all states make sex offender information accessible on the
Internet. I co-authored an amendment to the federal Megan's Law sponsored by U.S.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) to require all 50 states to make their registry
accessible via the Internet, free of cost and searchable with anonymity; (Go to:
www.parentsformeganslaw.com for up-to-date links to sex offender registries
nationwide);Free 800 or Per-Call-Fee 900 Numbers; Book or CD ROM; Information can be
viewed at specified law enforcement agencies or designated sites;Written Request To A
State Agency;
Examples Of Active Notification (Law Enforcement Reaches Out To
The Community)
Door To Door Notification & Direct Mailings;Faxes; Computer
Transmittals to:Neighbors, public and private schools, childcare centers, religious and
youth organizations or other individuals or organizations likely to encounter the
offender, or those serving populations vulnerable to the offender Press Releases To
Local Media;Notices Placed In Newspapers;Flyers Distributed By Law Enforcement
Throughout Neighborhoods;Community Meetings Conducted By Law Enforcement, Corrections,
Or An Advocacy Organization Such As Parents For Megan's Law The difference between
active notification and passive release is significant because it will determine whether
or not you will be notified if a sex offender moves in next door to you.
Parents across the nation have contacted us after linking to our Web site to ask why
they were not made aware of predators who were living right next door. Some police
departments have told me on the record that they "will not notify the community, but
that it's here if the public wants it." That means that you have to know that the
information is there to access. However, if you are like most people, you believe you
will be warned by police if a predator is in your neighborhood.
Most of us would naturally define the active release of information as notification,
because law enforcement or an authorized representative would be actively informing or
notifying the public of the presence of a resident sex offender. Passing legislation to
change this on both a state and federal level is problematic for two reasons. First,
the public already falsely believes they will be notified of any resident sex offender,
so they do not pay much attention to the issue until a predator moves in next door to
them. Secondly, lawmakers and government officials do not go out of their way to point
out the truth.
Parents and community members in the United States are just not getting clear
definitions of what it means when someone says "community notification," because of the
mixed messages being sent to them. The following is an excerpt from the Clinton-Gore
Record of Progress relating to the passage of The Jacob Wetterling Act and Megan's Law
and illustrates the confusion surrounding active-versus-passive release of information:
Protecting Children From Sex Offenders President Clinton signed Megan's Law and The
Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act,
requiring states to set up sex offender registration systems and require community
notification when sex offenders are released from prison. [White House, Office of the
Press Secretary, 5/17/96]
This statement was taken directly from The White House Web site and as you can see,
states that Megan's Law requires community notification. That is downright inaccurate.
The law requires only that states must release information and the way they release it
is left up to the discretion of each state. Reading this would certainly lead someone
to believe something altogether different.
At the Megan's Law bill signing ceremony on May 17, 1996, and just moments before
signing the bill into law, President Clinton said, "From now on, every state in the
country will be required by law to tell a community when a dangerous sexual predator
enters its midst."
This statement from our President helps to explain why most people in our nation believe
that that they will be notified if a sex offender moves in next door. You now know the
truth, this statement was not true and is still not true.
Excerpts from President Clinton's weekly radio address on June 22, 1996, further support
the notion that the public was encouraged to believe that the federal Megan's Law
guaranteed that they would be actively notified if a predator moved into a neighborhood:
WASHINGTON (CNN) - "Good morning. Today I want to talk with you about keeping our
families safe and secure, and especially about how we can help parents to protect their
children. Since I took office we have worked hard to combat the crime and violence that
has become all too familiar to too many Americans. We passed a sweeping crime bill in
1994 against steep opposition from partisan politicians and special-interest group
pressure. We are now putting 100,000 new police officers on America's streets in
community policing; nearly half of them are already funded. We banned 19 deadly assault
weapons, passed the Violence Against Women Act to help our communities assist [sic]
domestic violence. We passed the Brady bill, and already it has stopped over 60,000
felons, fugitives and stalkers from buying a gun. We are fighting to restore a sense of
community. And most of all we are fighting for our children and their future. Nothing
is more important than keeping our children safe. We have taken decisive steps to help
families protect their children, especially from sex offenders, people who according to
study after study are likely to commit their crimes again and again. We've all read too
many tragic stories about young people victimized by repeat offenders. That's why in the
crime bill we required every state in the country to compile a registry of sex
offenders, and gave states the power to notify communities about child sex offenders and
violent sex offenders that move into their neighborhoods (Author's Note: This was
accomplished with the 1994 passage of The Jacob Wetterling Act.) But that wasn't
enough, and last month I signed Megan's Law. That insists that states tell a community
whenever a dangerous sexual predator enters its midst. Too many children and their
families have paid a terrible price because parents didn't know about the dangers hidden
in their own neighborhood. Megan's law, named after a seven-year-old girl taken so
wrongly at the beginning of her life, will help to prevent more of these terrible
crimes.
The crime bill laid the foundation for this national registry by requiring states to
track sexual offenders within their borders. Megan's law makes sure parents get this
information so they can take steps to watch out for their children.
We'll never be able to eliminate crime completely. But as long as crime is so
commonplace that we don't even look up when horror after horror leaves the evening news,
we know we've got a long way to go. But I won't be satisfied until America is once
again a place where people who see a report of a serious crime are shocked, not numb to
it. We can make that America real. We know we can if we work together and put our
children first.
Thanks for listening."
Considering what the real truth is, the two most startling statements from his radio
address are that Megan's Law "insists that states tell a community whenever a dangerous
sexual predator enters its midst" and that "Megan's law makes sure parents get this
information so they can take steps to watch out for their children."
This spin on words served only to mislead a fearful public and has left many
unsuspecting parents even more vulnerable.
As you have discovered, The Wetterling Act and Megan's Law do not require active
community notification, only its passive release or making it available for those who
ask. About 20 of our 50 states have taken the federal minimum passive release
requirement and mandated some form of active community notification to select
organizations or individuals, typically for only the highest risk sex offender.
COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MEGANS LAW
Is Megan's Law Alone Going To Eliminate Sex Crimes and Sexually Motivated Abductions?
How Can I Can Access Specific Information About A Registered Sex Offender?
What Is An Entity With Vulnerable Populations?
What Does A "Community Approach" To Megan's Law Mean?
What Can I Do To Assist In My Community?
What Are My Responsibilities Under Megan's Law?
What Can I Do To Protect My Children From Sexual Predators?
What Can I do To Help Prevent My Child From Being Abducted?
