Megan’s Law
Megan Nicole Kanka was an average seven year-old girl living with her two parents in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. On July 29, 1994, Megan was lured into her neighbor’s house in the hopes of seeing a puppy (Megan Nicole Kanka). This neighbor was thirty-three-year-old Jesse Timmendequas. “Timmendequas had twice before been convicted of sexually assaulting young girls, had spent six years in what the press referred to as a ‘treatment facility,’ and had only recently been released and returned, as they say, to the community” (Decter 1). Kanka’s body was discovered in a heavily weeded area located in Mercer County Park. It was later determined that she was raped. Timmendequas was questioned by police and later taken into custody. He was the last person to Megan alive (Hennessey A1).
Timmendequas was charged with the rape and murder of Megan Kanka and was sent to trial. “The six-man, six-woman jury returned its verdict after deliberating for more than 10 hours over two days. They decided unanimously that Timmendequas should get death by injection instead of life in prison without parole.” (“Jurors order death”) This ruling satisfied the wishes of parents Maureen and Richard Kanka.
The people in the community were outraged not only about this brutal crime, but also by the fact that they were not informed of the convicted sex offenders residing in their neighborhood. In retaliation, the community members formulated a petition “demanding the passage of a state law that would require correction officials to notify people when a sex offender has moved into their neighborhood” (Decter 1). Over 400,000 citizens signed this petition forcing the newly formulated “Megan’s Law” to be passed by the New Jersey State Legislature in an unprecedented eighty-nine days.
Megan’s Law requires two things: sex offender registration and sex offender community notification. The law requires sex offender registration because “sex offenders pose a high risk of re-offending after release from custody and protecting the public from sex offenders is a primary governmental interest.” Community notification “assists law enforcement in investigations and deters sex offenders from committing new sex offenses”. (Megans-Law.net)
There are many people who tend to argue that enacting laws of registration and community notification the government would be alienating the sex offender’s right to privacy, but according to Megans-Law.net, “privacy interests of persons convicted of sex offenses are less important than the government’s interest in public safety”. The people in the community have a right to know when there is a dangerous person living in their neighborhood and possibly spending time with their children.
After New Jersey passed this new set of laws, many other states followed suit. Varying versions of these laws have been passed all across the United States. Forty-six states in all have adopted some form of Megan’s Law (Megans-Law.net). Although these individual state laws have “little or no uniformity”, they still deal with the same principles and protect residents from the dangers of convicted sex offenders. Some states even go as far as forcing the community notification to include “photographs, physical descriptions, dates of birth, and details concerning the offenses for which offenders were convicted (Megan’s Law 37). In addition, a federal law was signed and passed by former President Bill Clinton on May 17, 1996(Megans-Law.net).
Although the death of Megan Kanka is a true tragedy, the laws that have been passed in her name have enabled people to know how to better protect their children and themselves. Megan Kanka’s memory will always live on and the laws made in her name will continue to protect people for many years to come.
Works Cited
Decter, Midge. “Megan’s Law and the New York Times.” Unknown 98.4 (Oct. 1994): 61.
Hennessey, Raymond. “Murdered Girl Found.” The Times 31 July 1994: A1+A14.
“Jurors order death sentence for Megan Kanka’s killer.” CNN.com. 15 Feb. 2008 <http://www.cnn.com/
US/9706/20/kanka.verdict.pm/>.
Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation- Mission. 15 Feb. 2008 <http://megannicolekankafoundation.org/
mission.htm>.
“Megan’s Law.” West’s Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Lehman, Jeffrey Phelps, and Shirelle. 2nd
ed. Vol. 7. N.p.: Thomson Gale, n.d. 36-38.
Megans-Law.net. 15 Feb. 2008 <http://www.megans-law.net/>.
