Problems in ‘Megan’s Laws’

The 1994 death of 7-year-old Megan Kanka at the hands of a twice-convicted child molester prompted a huge national response, in large part because her murderer lived right across the street, his criminal history unbeknown to her parents and the neighborhood.

Before the New Jersey girl’s killer was convicted, 45 states passed a crazy quilt of “Megan’s laws” to track and keep parents informed of dangerous predators in their midst. Megan’s case also inspired the 1996 federal sex offender notification law requiring states to “release relevant information concerning registered child molesters and sexually violent offenders when necessary to protect the public.”

These laws represented a gut-level response to an indefensible crime, a response that often has resulted in former offenders being hounded from one residence to another and out of their jobs. Now it’s up to the courts to decide whether the laws are constitutional. Megan’s laws in nine states have been challenged, stricken or stalled in court, in part because they have been applied retroactively. Predatory acts committed before their passage are being used to help determine whether a molester is considered sufficiently dangerous to require the notification.

Federal guidelines were issued only this past April. A most pertinent one should be read closely by the states. The government “contemplates” that reporting requirements would be imposed on offenders “who are subsequently convicted of offenses.” Some states have already begun to do exactly that, amending their Megan’s laws so that they apply only to future convictions and not immediately to sex offenses already committed.

There are also success stories to report. Without California’s law, convicted child molester James Crummel of Newport Beach might have faded from memory. Instead, the constant attention shook loose evidence that might link him to an 18-year-old murder case. Repeat child molesters are being caught earlier in Washington state. Illinois’ law helped track down an unregistered serial child molester who subsequently confessed to molesting another boy and is going back to prison.

But there is scant uniformity, even within states. In California, standards vary widely for whom police departments must notify and for when a public warning is needed. Some departments haven’t even determined a course of action.

And there is one matter that makes little sense here. Time and again in reviewing cases for this editorial, it was learned that child predators had faced considerable prison time but were allowed to plead guilty to just a few of their alleged crimes. They received much shorter sentences and served little of those.

The nation seems to have declared that child molesters are the most abhorrent and damaging of criminals. If this is so, then time served in prison for these crimes ought to be commensurately high. That appears to have been submerged in the debate over what should be done about these criminals after their release.