Megan's Law:
The Impasse Between Improving Enforcement Technology and Eroding Privacy Rights for Convicted Sex Offenders
Megan's Law was passed in 1996 and immediately ignited a flurry of disagreement, both over its likely effectiveness and over its Constitutional Compliance. Requiring each state to compile Sex Offender Registries and to provide Community Notification when convicted sex offenders move into a community, Megan's Law is designed to improve child welfare and safety, but also ignites intense disagreement over the preservation of privacy rights.
The present research evaluates the role played by technology in the ongoing dispute between public safety and privacy rights.
While its advocates perceive Megan's Law as a critical law...
Sex offenders: How should the legal system deal with them? Dealing with the problem of sex offenders is one of the most serious and emotional issues any criminal justice professional can confront. Even otherwise rational people often become irrational when the subject of sexual abuse arises. This fear that sex offenders could be anywhere and everywhere is terrifying for parents and the public at large. The idea that a sex offender
While registry systems are improving to help keep community members aware of their risk from known offenders, much more needs to be done to prevent offenses from happening in the first place. This is a very difficult task, since it involves not only crime prevention but also risk detection and systems cohesion. One way this challenge might be approached is through increased reporting requirements. Too often, alleged abuse in
Sex Offenders An Investigation of Whether the Punishments Inflicted upon Sex Offenders are the most Effective Means of Dealing with these Offenders There are some crimes that are so hideous that there doesn't seem that any chance of rehabilitation would ever be possible. It is commonly the case that the most horrific stories of sexual offenses plague the media. Because of this the public has developed an irrational fear against the sexual
The Solution The Saybrook Forum reports that studies indicate that rehabilitation of sex offenders is possible. It is reported that sex offenders can be rehabilitated through therapy and that therapy can be an effective method to rehabilitating sex offenders. The method utilized is quite simple and is reported to be humanistic involving addressing the humanity of the offender. Rehabilitation makes a requirement of "taking the sex offender seriously as a person."
In general, preferential child molesters are much more dangerous that situational child molesters, largely because they typically account for more than one-hundred victims before being apprehended whereas situational child molesters are rarely as prolific. Preferential child molesters have specific preferences for children and for children of certain ages. They may purposely position themselves to take advantage of children, such as by pursuing professional employment that allows them close contact with
Granted, offenders who can legally be monitored for their online behaviors should be prevented from engaging in any precursor acts to grooming. The rehabilitation process should include the development of healthy online behaviors and habits. Specific features of online communication make it so that grooming is easy for sex offenders. It is also difficult if not impossible to prevent sex offenders from using the Internet to perpetrate their criminal behaviors.
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