Replies to "Megan's Law"

Reply #1

From: "Kenneth Guell" [KENGUE@msn.com]

Good stuff! Here is more to chew on:

"Sex offenders" now are seeking legal methods to WIN in court rather than be subjected to Megan's Law. They used to plead guilty, served time and got some sort of treatment before being released. Megan's Law took care of all that. Now with the help of the courts and provisions regarding evidence and such are getting off all together. Offenders don't want to be known in the community and will fight for privacy - so that the can continue to without treatment to do what they are driven to.

No jail - no treatment - no clue - no fucking way!

Most reputable Dr.'s are against ML because it undermines the need to get people help and possibly stopping/controlling this kind of offense. Usually offenders have been offended in some way or other in their own past.

Who is subject to the LAW? EVERYONE! You hit it right on with your rant. Did you know that children (JUVIES) themselves who are convicted offenders must also register? Do you remember those two kids who kissed and had the school in an uproar. Well if the boy or girl were 3 years older than the other he/she could be convicted of a sexual offense and subject to "ML" under juvenile law. Great, for the next 15 years of their lives kids will be punished and not let to forget their CRIME? What the fuck is this?

I agree with you, why are these adults out on the streets anyway? The system sucks - Who is protecting who? At what cost?.

Sounds to me like politics at it best. A means to gain control by ignorance and fear. Communism for a free society. OUCH did I write that.

I be back to read your page from time to time - stuff like this really pisses me off.

It's always cracked me up when a person crawls out of the woodwork and thinks that they can make some kind of point by quoting a mile of endless bullshit. These are usually the same people who use words and phrases as if they really know what they mean.

I find myself talking to these people for a few days looking for some sign of common sense. I almost always give up. It's easier to say "Yeah, yer right. Yer so so right. Ya sure got me..." It's almost always the only thing they will accept anyway. Dig the next reply...

Reply #2

From: "Nancy A. Burnett" [incestabuse@mail.miningco.com]

There are two apparent factual misunderstands that I think you are making in your article:

1. You state that Megan's Law requires registration of sex offenders. Megan's Law makes provisions for notifying members of the community when certain high-risk sex offenders are released into the community. It is the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act which is the federal law that requires registration of certain offenders. It was passed as part of the Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 the year that Megan was murdered and named after eleven-year-old Jacob Wetterling who was abducted in 1989. Megan's Law amends the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexaully Violent Offender Registration Act to give the states permission to use the data they gather as a result of the act and release it for any purpose that is legal under state law (in other words, the federal government does not require the states to keep the registration data confidential) and it requires the states to develop plans for the release to the public of information about registered information that are determined to be a risk to the community. Registration was not only the law at the federal level by the time Megan was killed. Before her murder, Washington, Louisiana, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, already had laws requring convicted sex offenders to register with authorities. Part of the community outrate is that authorities knew that the man who killed Megan had previously been convicted of sex crimes involving children and knew he was living near children but did not tell any of the parents in the community that he was there.

2. You indiate a concern that homosexuals engaging in consensual sodomy might be required to register. This is a common misperception and is not true under the federal law. I do not know the laws of each of the states providing for registration of offenders but I believe most of them follow the model of the New Jersey statute (the full text is at http://njlawnet.com/megans.html#2C:7-1 ). As you can see from both statutes, "sex offender" for purposes of the registration law is defined as a person who has committed crimes of sexual assault or other crimes of sexual violence or has committed crimes against children. Accordingly, it appears that adults who commit sodomy or who solicit a prostitute or engage in prositute would not be deemed "sex offenders" under the statute.

N.J.S.A. 2C:7-1 to -11 "Megan's Law"
Actual Statute

We could debate all day long about whether the law is a good idea or not. I agree that most of these offenders molest many, many, many children before they are caught and these laws will only protect a small fraction of children. To the extent we can develop tools to catch and convict more of these animals, I'm definitely in favor of it. But just because we are limited in our ability to do that, does not convince me as a reason that we should not use what tools we do have to protect those children we can protect from the ones that have been convicted of sex crimes against children or violence sex offenses and through some stupidy of the system actually get released from prison.

There is a value to Megan's Law. It is well known that many child molesters are good with children and are able to give the appearance to parents and other adults that they can be trusted. A parent or school or other organization might trust a convicted sex offender to babysit or coach a little league team or be a scout leader or otherwise assume a position where he has access to children without ever knowing that the person had the prior conviction. Under plans like the New York and California plan, however, parents and organizations can contact a 900 number before hiring the person as a babysitter or letting their children be on a team he coaches or in a scout troup he leads to verify that he is not a registered sex offender. In short, if this tool is used by parents, scouting organizations, little leagues, etc., Megan's Law can well protect some children.

Nancy

Ignorance is a virus, and unfortunately has a big mouth. Most children under 14 think the biggest and most likely threat out there is some pervert who wants to touch their naughty bits. It seems as if children a rewarded for being zealots when it comes to the topic of sexual molestation.

This next reply was from a person who obviously had no idea what the rant was about. It's likely the person never even read the rant in the first place...

Reply #3

Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 10:53:33
From: (minor)

Thank you so much for your input on Megan's Law. It has helped me to understand and realize the danger of such horrible people like sex offenders. I know of a convicted sex offender in my community who followed me and watched me when I was in my yard or walking om the street. The man was noticed by my parents after passing my our house at least twice an hour. He didn't harm me, but I know he could and would have. Hopefully .......soon,the state of Tennessee will pass Megan's Law. It would have protected me and will protect others if it is passed.

Thanx,

Leslie-age:13

Reply #4

Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 20:16:43 -0400
From: "Jaymee Martin" (kitycatds@hotmail.com)

I know I'm terrible at writing, but I saw something in the Paper and was wondering if I was the only one. It seems this neighborhood was informed of a sex offender, a high risk offender, if I remember correctly, and of course they found out where he lived. A lovely gentleman of this town decided to take the law in his own hands and shot at the guys house. Now I know Pat will say this comes as no surprise, and it doesn't. I mean it doesn't take a genius to realize things like that are going to happen, but I wonder does the government realize it? Are they that stupid, or are the hoping that maybe people will react volently? Maybe it's their way of cutting down the population, or some other insane twisted, sadistic thought that I thought only people like myself have. I don't know. But I'm curious, if we need to inform the public of these "sex offenders" and they are so "high risk" or "repeat offenders" then why the hell are they out of jail in the first fucking place? Just curious...

Reply #5

Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 09:20:42 -0500
From: "Donna Chestnut" (dchestnut@stlnet.com)

Dear Pat:

(Personal reflection deleted)

Recently, a 11 year old from my neighborhood was abducted from her home. She was raped and shot in the head. The pervert who did it was a convicted sex offender who was know to pretend he was a "police officer and then play doctor" with his victims. The pervert also lived in the area.

My daughter is 5 so I decided I wanted to obtain the so called list of offenders in my neighborhood. So I started with the highway patrol. Every number I called I was given another number to call. This went on for about 6 numbers. Finally, I was given a name and a number but "she wasn't in yet".

When I finally reached the lady. . . . . . . She informed me that the list would cost $19.99 and that I needed to call one of the first numbers to obtain it.

I AM APPALLED!!!!!

I use to question capital punishment. More and more I find myself leaning towards this type of punishment. In Saude Arabia, if you steal you get your fingers cut off. Beheadings happen frequently and stonings. If you cause an accident in a car resulting in death you are responsible to the victims family. You must pay so that family will have the same life style they would have had had if the accident would not have occured. SOUNDS BARBARIC BUT IT WORKS. The crime rate is very low there.

The world we live in is very sick and our justice system is not working. I say we should torture them the same way they tortured me and many other children. Then castrate them.

The statictics say that SEXUAL OFFENDERS are usually repeat offenders. Why give them a second chance. Castrate them for first offenses.

Thanks for the opportunity to get this off my chest.

Sincerely
Donna

Donna, I want you to believe me when I say this: I do *not* think you are an idiot... but I do think you are caught up in the ravings of the majority who *are* idiots. You probably won't agree with me, but I am pretty certain you will understand what I say...

Now, you expressed disgust that it was so difficult to find out how to get "the list," compounded by the fact that "the list" is going to cost money! How DARE they?!

Let me ask... why do you need the list? I mean, what are you going to do with it? It might tell you that 'Joe Scmoe' on the corner is a once convicted sex offender. Then what, huh? Will knowing that he is make your kid any safer? No...

The Police Departments across the country have these lists. There is absolutely no reason why John Q. Public needs them. If you own a day care center and want to run a background check on employees, you should get the list. If you're a high school principal, you should get the list. Pediatric hospital's should get it, and so on. Paranoid moms and dads who want to check out their neighbors? No...

There are some justifiable instances, such as checking out your kid's baseball coach. I dig that, but everyone? What the hell will that help? What about the never convicted pervert who isn't on that list?

Police departments do have the list, but they aren't making it super easy to get it, nor should they! A few beered up crusaders with the list is much more dangerous than the majority of the people on the list.

You said, and I quote, "The statistics say that SEXUAL OFFENDERS are usually repeat offenders." This is true. Thieves are usually repeat thieves. Drug dealers are usually repeat drug dealers. Tax evaders are usually repeat tax evaders. A very SMALL minority of those who do what they do ever get caught, so what of the thousands of sex offenders that are not and will never be on the list? Do they not count?

Megan's law scares the shit out of me, not because of what it is, but because it's ALL there is. People think that Megan's Law is a solution. Far from it! It's just a tool, and maybe it always should have been in place, but for some weird reason, people think that this law alone will stop child molestation. Christ, that is so stupid...

As for the other stuff you mentioned about forms of punishment in the Middle East, it doesn't work. If it did, there would be NO crime there, dig? In reality, they have a government whose policy it is to dismember their citizens. Some 18 year old kid steals a camera? WHACK! There goes his hand! Is that fair? I know a few people out there are now saying to themselves, "Hell yeah, it's fair!" If you are one of 'em, I doubt you'll ever get it...

We in The States do not practice what is considered cruel and unusual punishment. That includes not cutting someone's nuts off. I wouldn't want to live in a country where the government had that kind of power, and believe me, neither would you! Hell, I like my nuts...

Reply #6

Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 12:36:43 -0500
From: "Brian Belt" (bxb@escm.com)

Hi. I just finished reading your rant. It has given me food for thought. I did, at one time, believe everything was black and white. I grew up and found out just how many shades of grey are out there. I shall think on this before I form an opininion. Thank you.

Reply #7

Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 16:11:10 -0800
From: "wayne e manning" (wmanning@together.net)

*******Sensorship should not be out of the question for children under 19 years of age! All of these "free pics" on the net with the disclaimer of only adults may enter is a joke! I say get rid of the "free pics" etc. Put a brown paper wraper on it if you will...enlarge the "black bar"...place it behind the counter! Put an end to the boys, girls, teens, barely legal, lures. Are you serious about creating a safe environment for our children? Do you wonder where we should start? Start by cleaning up the net!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yer kidding, right? If you are offended by what think is "dirty", don't look at it. If you want to keep your kids from seeing it, install Net-Nanny or Cyber-Sitter.

Prohibition in part or on a whole doesn't work. Kind of like thinking if there were no alcohol, there are no alcoholics. They tried to ban alcohol a long time ago and it didn't work. Maybe you heard. At any rate, ya don't ban booze because some 14 year olds get their hands on a case of beer. It's kind of like pornography. It's always going to exist, no matter what you or I or the government does. Kid's that want to see it are going to find it. When I was eight, I found my uncles stash of Playboy and Penthouse magazine. There were literally hundreds! I kept it a big secret, and went through them every chance I got.

If you ban that porn in whole or in part, even just on the net, it's just a matter of time before foul language is banned on the net as well. What about ideas that are counter political? Soon, it will be TV and newspapers. Don't laugh.

What you suggest is censorship, pure and simple. I'm sorry if you just can't see that.

Reply #8

Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 14:56:36 -0600
From: "trailcenter" (trailctr@raven.boreal.org)

child molesters should be eliminated.killed.taken out of society.they should never get a second chance.never never neverfast death,slow death as long as they die who cares,,,they are the trash of the earth

Ok, now that you have told the world that you are only able to think on a two dimensional level, I am going to ask why you thought this reply had anything to do with the rant. My guess is that you really didn't read it, or if you did, didn't understand it. At any rate, your reply has done something for all of us, and that is to show how people snap when presented with such a subject as child molestation.

Just the accusation of child molestation, or even a slight implication of such is a powerful and dangerous thing. It has become the Satanism of the 80's and 90's, and those suspected of such vulgarity as child molestation are in just as much trouble as known child molesters.

The majority of people aren't that stupid. Unfortunately, no one takes notice to the ordinary person. We notice the idiot jumping up and down banging a pot and calling for blood.

A very small part of why I stopped dealing with posting my own opinions was the endless yap yap yap of the truly stupid. It's been a long time since I updated any rant reply, but I never deleted emails.
This first one is an example of the truly stupid. Email from (THOMAS@IRTC.NET) will be BLUE, and email from me will be GREEN.

Reply #9

Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 9:02 PM

HOW CAN I FIND THE LOCAL LISTING OF CHILD MOLESTERS ONLINE. I AM CURIOUS WHO IS IN MY AREA WHO IS A SEX OFFENDER. THANKS.
-JOE

I am so unbelievably annoyed at the tremendous stupidity of people. This happens at least once a month. If you had a 'list' of those accused, what would you do with the information? Beat the hell out of the guy? Make sure young people stayed twice as far away from him as anyone else? What? You didn't actually read the article, did you? I apologize for my obvious contempt, but please make sure you READ and UNDERSTAND what is written before you make requests.

HEY IF YOU CANT ANSWER SOMEONES QUESTION IN ANOTHER MANNER, GET THE FUCK OFF THE INTERNET. I ASKED A SERIOUS QUESTION AND GOT A RETARD ANSWER. ARE YOU AS DUMB AS YOU SEEM. GET A LIFE YOU LOSER.

Christ, are you a fucking moron! The article explains how "Megan's Law" is not thought out, and is totally pointless. You, Mr. Intelligent (with the all caps), probably just read the title and assumed what it was all about. Then, you ask where you can get 'the list' on the internet... Let me tell ya something, ya dork, shit like that is NOT so easily available to the public at large. It's that way so Neanderthal morons don't get such a list and form a posse to beat the shit out of people. Not only are you a fucking idiot for asking me where to get 'the list' without reading the article, but you are even dumber for writing back a second time defending your initial stupidity! What a waste of carbon...

WELL I SEE YOU MUST BE A SEX OFFENDER YOURSELF. TELL YOU WHAT YOU FUCKING RETARD, YOUR PERVERTED WAYS ARE NOT EXCEPTED IN AMERICA. AND YOU NEED TO BE SHOT AND HUNG. YOU ARE A RETARD. ISNT IT GREAT HOW SOME PEOPLE HIDE BEHIND THE INTERNET TO BE TOUGH GUYS. SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS, TOUGH GUY.

How did I just guess that because I am not frothing at the mouth automatically backing this law that I would be accused of being a child molester? It's just something idiots do. I've got a very simple psychological term for ya, buddy... "Crusader Complex." Look it up. Oh, want my address? Can you find New Jersey? County of Camden, right next to Philadelphia. Town of Voorhees. [Street address] Bring it on. Make it a Tuesday evening. Ya moron...

screw your tuesday evening , i am sending someone now. tough guy

What, not yourself? Aw gee! We'd be such nifty friends. Kiss kiss...

no i am going to your mom's house. kiss kiss, fag

Hmmm, been a while since I talked to the Illinois State Police about some kid threatening my health and the health of my mother. Hmmm... I guess I'll just have IRTC revoke your account. Buh-buy, stupid! :)

you do that, its been awhile since i had someone write me with provocative mail, after a serious mail was sent in the first place. dont threaten me with you bull shit. my uncle is a new jersey state trooper out of atlantic city. so we will see who does what.

Being rude is not a crime, but you're obviously too stupid to see that. Your uncle may know mine! Sergeant [Irish Name Deleted]? Neat-o... Sending threats across state lines is a federal crime. You better hope for two things, that you're under 18, and that your ISP just revokes your account. I haven't hit send yet, so the email is not waiting for support at irtc.net at this time. I think I'll let ya sweat a bit, and I'm not kidding, kid. What's it gonna be? I'm waiting.

well, toughguy you do what you have to do and i will do what i have to do. and harassment by mail is also a federal crime and that is what you keep doing everytime you send me some of your stupid ass mail.

I'm waiting. Gonna kiss my ass, or bite it? 10 minutes...

i have already sent your mail to the new jersey state police. now laugh you asshole i asked you to stop and you continue to harass me, so i will seek full punishment on you by all statue of the law.

Yer funny. I am not harassing you. you didn't ask me to stop. Stupid people crack me up. Heh... Well, the mail has been sent. Look for a new ISP, my friend. Now to totally ignore you from now on. Buh-bye, kid!

Of course I was just baiting him, but at the time, I thought it was funny as hell. I did laugh a lot...

Reply #10

Date: Thursday, July 27, 2000 10:21 AM
From: (Withheld)

My husband was convicted of child molestation of a minor 3 years ago. The thing bothers me is even when the "victim" comes and says it was a revenge plot against his family he is still prosecuted and serves time in prison. I will always believe he is innocent. He is to good a person or atleast he was until Megens law came into effect in NM. He is attending conseling once aweek. But because of this law. My husband, myself and our children are being harrassed. I DON'T THINK THAT IS FAIR. People we have never meet are judging him not because they know him but because his name is on the offender's list. Any one he has met either in work or personal don't beleive this "HORSE...." Because it is not true.

I don't want my name or address shown. My message is fine but.... We already get phone calls We don't want email.

Reply #11

Date:
From: Richard C. Pirrello (rcp4961@hotmail.com)

Megans Law was meant to protect children from child molesters, or worse murders. The law doesnt do that, it actually punishes people who commit lesser offenses, and treats them the same as a murder. (if someone sends you an e mail, with a child pornography picture attached to it) you can be convicted of a 4th degree felony? Was this what the law was meant to do? I dont think so.

A drunk driver can kill a whole family, and is not made to register, a drug dealer can sell drugs to children, and they are not made to register,,, sounds like the politicians, the police and the prosecuters, have there heads up their behinds

Reply #12

Date: Monday, April 08, 2002 1:01 AM
From: SLUCE224@aol.com (SLUCE224@aol.com)

Theres also bad thing about megans law to like having younger people lie to act older so they get into sexual contact with a adult and next minute you0 know it they have got you into trouble even though a person with a clean record has to pay the price for a juvies to lie to u any they don't get any punish ment for lieing thats how 50 percent get brought up in megans law to. so thats why we should not have it. plus then we should also know in neighborhoods about robbers and druggies moving in to be cause they have a record.

Who said what now??

Reply #13

Date: Monday, August 19, 2002 1:43 AM
From: EliEkc@aol.com (EliEkc@aol.com)

i would just like to say alot of people don't realize the amount of innocent people who have been labled a sex offender and lives are ruined by this law. People every day are pleading guilty even though their innocent because it's either plead guilty or rot in jail. The sad part is their doesn't have to be any evidence in these said sex crimes all their has to be is a child saying it happened and a man is screwed. I am not saying that their are not sick people out their and I know that these laws are made to protect. But these laws do not protect innocent men and they also give children ability to lie about someone and get away with it. If you don't beleive me turn on your TV and just listen to the stories. Listen to the innocent lives ruined and by the way in some states a sex crime can be mooning someone know is that really something that should be punished for a lifetime.

Unfortunately, people believe the media scare tactics and think that there is a child rapist around every corner. To tell you the truth, just one on the planet is one too many. At any rate, you must prove to the idiot majority that what you say is true, and ther's little chance that's happening.

Reply #14

Date: Sunday, November 10, 2002 1:46 AM
From: Ian J. Taylor (ian@t-one.net)

thought you might be interested in this, but then again... I could be wrong.

This is the html version of the file http://www.appa-net.org/revisitingmegan.pdf.
G o o g l e automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url:

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:9klAtVxwePUC:www.appa-net.org/revisitingmegan.pdf+pennsylvania+ACLU+megan's+law&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.

Very interesting reading. Thank you for the heads up...

Reply #15

Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 1:37 PM
From: Marcy Figard (nolivjah@juno.com)

You are absolutely right. Public registration has accomplished nothing. The original intent of Megan's Law was to protect the public from PEDOPHILEs. Not have young teenagers whom have experimented with permission with the opposite sex, to have to file for the next 25 years. It is not fair to ruin a young (12 & under) man's life because his behavior was not legal, yet was non violent. If these laws were in effect when I was a teenager than over half the school would be "sex offender" on the registery now. As a matter of fact with all the children in Michigan having to register on the list, it is going to backfire. There will no longer be a stigma for being on the list, thus defeating Megan's Law to begin with.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Reply #16

Date: Monday, February 10, 2003 6:46 PM
From: Witheld By Request

As for everything you've stated here, I agree with almost all of it. Megan's law isn't a safety shield, its another level of punishment for the victims. And for people who read the replies, I've known people who were convicted of 2nd degree felonies simply because they were both 16 and a parent hated the boyfriend. Was it wrong? Maybe. Did he deserve 4 years in prison and a $500 fine? I don't think so. But knowing that he'll have to register as a sex offender simply because he fell in love a year early is abhorrent. Nobody should be punished that harshly for such a relatively minor infraction. This kind of law wont stop the crimes, it will only make things worse for those who are convicted, and some cases you'd be hard pressed not to say they were wrongly convicted. I think the concept of Megan's Law is a good one, but I think where the reform should lie is in the sex laws. The problem with something like that is how every situation is different. The true prowlers I think should be imprisoned and treated until such time as they're more well adjusted (if thats even possible), but for those who were innocent and simply caught up in things like this, Megan's Law is a brand for having been young. I've read about couples that were married when they were 17, with parental consent, and when the child was delivered, the husband was arrested. Look it up, this kind of crap happens. I think your "Where will it end" mentality is appropriate for this situation.

Hey now, are you thinking? How un-American!

Reply #17

Date: Thursday, March 06, 2003 5:43 AM
From: Frank Clark

I was doing some research on Megans Law for an essay and happened across your rant. Actually, I found the replies first, and then the rant. After reading it I must admit that I agree with a lot of your statements. First off...Christy Whitman was an extremely brain damaged individual. We referred to her as Christy Scissorhands seeing as everything she touched was cut to shit. Anyway, about Megans Law. I remember quite a bit about the events from when Megan first came up missing, to when they found her body. I didn't personally know them, but I only lived around 2 miles from them on 33. The first thing that hit me as odd was how fast this big manhunt was put into place. Usually the police won't lift a finger unless someone, even a child, has already been missing for quite a few hours. She was on the news and they were already searching for her within only a few. This makes me think they had an idea where, or maybe I should say who, they should start looking at right away. Yet what's more fucked up is that the prick walked right out of his house, with her in a toolbox, right across the street from the police. I'm sorry...this really doesn't have anything to do with the rant. At first I thought Megans Law was going to be this great thing that helped keep children safe. I think it may help some, though, for the most part, I feel it does more harm than good. I live in Binghamton, NY now with my wife and 3 children. about a year ago we received a paper stating that a known child molester ( Molested a 7 year old girl 4 years prior) had not only moved into our neighborhood, but the apartment right behind ours. At first my wife was very pleased she had this information...I wasn't. I don't think a day went by before she was to scared to let the kids play outside, or even go anywhere alone herself. Things eventually got worse, with her calling the landlord and asking why he had let this man move in. I believe he did know, but felt the man had paid his debt to society. For 3 months my wife was crazy. She was afraid to leave the kids alone in their own bedrooms, like the guy was going to phaze through the damn wall or something. He ended up getting arrested for raping a 24 year old woman that was unable to give consent (Mentally retarded) and went back to prison. My point is, if we wouldn't have known he was a previous offender that woman still would have been raped. I wouldn't have as much gray hair as I do now, and my wife wouldn't keep looking over her shoulder even though he no longer lives anywhere near us.

As for what you said about the Sodomy in NJ. I must be a sex offender......I had many blowjobs when I lived there.

Later Man. . .

I was told the Sodomy law in NJ was repealed in 1979, but I have yet to confirm it. Therer are MANY websites that give different information for each state. Since I am not fighting off women that want to blow me, I don't care. Of course, I wouldn't give it a second thought if I were fighting off women that wanted to blow me! Maybe I'll make up request forms...

Reply #18

Date: Thursday, March 06, 2003 12:58 PM
From: Witheld By Request

I was molested and raped by my mothers uncle when I was seven years old.I beleive the law had good intentions because I've always wondered if he was out molesting other little girls,but I would not be worried about that if the guy were in jail.These sickos do not get anything,but a slap on the wrist and then they're sent back out among our children.I think the law ought to put stiffer laws on this type of thing.Even if the offender wasn't majorly violent and didn't murder his victims he is still emotionally violent.To this day I still have nightmares.I will not go out after dark by myself and I feel I am way to skiddish and overly protective of my own kids.He scarred me for life and these perverts need to really be punished for what they've done.

Here's an idea... let's make crime illegal. That way, there will be no more crime!

Reply #19

Date: Saturday, May 17, 2003 6:37 PM
From: Jason Novak [airjasonn@hotmail.com]

I read your rant and found it a bit hard to follow. You did not really take a firm position. You seem to be saying that Megans Laws will not do any good in the majority of cases (correct?). Further you are saying that before the whole group "Megans laws" were passed a person might be more likely to plead guilty (correct?). You are also worried about giving too much power to the government and loosing too many hard fought rights (right?). This last thing is getting to be a big deal with me now that we are all worried about homeland security. I'm all for stopping peds and terrorists but I'm not all for John Law having a free hand get into innocent folks business. As you say what is next?

Can you summerize you stand on Megans Laws? I can't tell if you are for or against them. You seem for them in principal but against them in practice.

No.

Reply #20

Date: Thursday, November 06, 2003 6:34 PM
From: Anonymous

megans law does not protect anyone any more than good parents or teachers or people running day cares can. alot of people convicted of sex crimes and required to register are innocent and punished sometimes for the rest of their lives for something they did not do. Angry exes and girlfriends families can and do bribe kids to lie and say things that are not true. Where is the mans protection when he is innocent. Tell you what everyone had better start keeping every receipt from every place they go and keep a journal of daily living with wittiness mentioned because if you don`t have it and someone gets mad at you prison will be your sentence guilty or not when that is done you can sign up and be punished the rest of your life for a lying kid.

Take a breath now...

Reply #21

From: daphne procz-shorts and gatorX (expensivewino13@comcast.net)
Date: Friday, January 30, 2004 9:51 PM

How do you feel about sex offenders relocating after prison to within 1 mile of a school?

Ya know, I don�t understand why people get so upset at the proximity a sex offender lives to a school. As long as he doesn�t live on the actual grounds of the school, who gives a shit? A once convicted sex offender that is going to re-offend is going to no matter WHAT his proximity to a school.

Reply #22

From: "Tammy C." (lilimpish@hotmail.com)
Date: Sunday, February 15, 2004 2:43 PM

My son, recently was found guilty of having sex with an underage girl. He was 23, she was 13. Was it the smartest thing he had done, NO. It was his first sexual encounter, not hers. her parents knew of the encoutner 2 years before they decided to notify the police. When they found out about it they asked him to not contact her in any way. He did as asked, even though she tired many times to contact him. Understand that the girl is very forthright in saying there was no coersion, no alcohol, no drugs, and it was totally consentual. NOW, two years later he is in jail for a sex crime. He will have to register as a sex offender when he is released. He has had no relationships with any other young girl, He has been in no trouble with the law. My opinion, By putting someone like him on the registery it makes the whole thing questionable. I wonder how many of the men on this registery, never had anything before, or after, but they will live the rest of their lives under the eyes of vindictive people who accuse without knowing the whole story. Do I think repeat offenders, or violent offenders should be listed, I'm not even real sure of that. I mean we have repeat drug pushers, we have people who are repeat, DUII, or people who have been found guilty of taking another life. They walk among us, and we dont' have any idea who they are. I wonder if there are any figures on how many of these guys are first time offenders, or got caught up in a "statutory" situation. It would be interesting to know, just who this list is protecting us from. As we all know, most SEX OFFENDERS are not caught.

Um... ok.

Reply #23

From: "KFAITH999@aol.com" (KFAITH999@aol.com)
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 12:35 AM

CAN ANYONE ACTUALLY STOP THINKING ABOUT THEMSELVES OR WHAT THEY MIGHT BE THINKING. JESSE WAS VERY WRONG IN WHAT HE DID - HIS DAD DID IT TO HIM - DID WE PROSECUTE - NO JUST BLAME - THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE - I FOUGHT IT - NOT ALL DO. START BLAMING THE GOV'MT & THE BLEEDING HEART MOTHER THAT DIDN''T KNOW WHERE HER DAUGHTER WAS - IT WAS HER RESPONSIBILITY - SHE'LL BLAME IT ON THE WORLD - THAT'S THE AGENDA - GET A GRIP - HE'S SICK - SHE'S SICKER SHE'S FEEDING OF HER LACK OF BEING WHO SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN & IS PLAYING THE BLAME GAME - WELCOME WORLD - WHICH RIDE DO YOU WANT TO BE ON. SHE'S WRONG - YES HER DAUGHTER DIED - I FEEL EXTREME REMORSE - I GREW UP IN A VERY ABUSIVE LIFESTYLE - I HAVE CHOSEN TO BE DIFFERENT - SEE CHANGES & HELP - NOT COLLECT TAX FUNDS FOR THE STATE IF I LIST SEX OFFENDERS ON A WEB SITE. WAKE UP AMERICA - AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION ARE NOT LEGAL - FIGURED THAT OUT YET - HELLO..............

Fucking WHAT?!? Why do people write this poorly and expect to be understood? Listen, before you share your opinions with others, learn how to communicate. Wow, that was actually painful to read...

Reply #24

From: Anonymous
Date: Saturday, March 27, 2004 11:03 AM

came across your web site only because i was curious to find out if anyone else was really against this law. I was a victim of childhood sexual abuse for 12 yrs, by a scumbag uncle. My brother also a victim grew to a drug addicted 18 yr old who did heroine,meth and other things. thanks to that uncle who introduced drugs into his life at age 6. While i was a highschool sophmore, my brother got high and sexually assaulted my best friend whom we had both grown up with. Now...after serving 16 1/2 yrs in prison he is out. The state wants to rule him as a tier 3 due to the age of the victim (16) and the crime. My uncle encouraged inappropriate behavior between my brother and myself at age 6 (he) me (4). The state used that saying i too was an additional victim. He is now a tier 3 - using the nj out of the heartland statute they can do this to anyone. how is this law just... we had psych doctor discuss that the actions of a man (young man) prior to the age of 23, are not the actions of your full self. One becomes psychologically who they are after age 23. Even the doctor the state made us use recommended him to be a tier 2. Now here he is having lost half his life to prison, having too been a victim, one again preparing to recieve his scarlet letter. I hate this law. I know a guy who got out for murdering someone violently.... why dont i get his picture, address and car. This law has great intentions but is used to persecute people and has no grounds for individualism or unique circumstances. I believe he deserved to have a 2nd chance, he didnt pray on an innocent woman or child, he got high and did a horrible thing to a girl he had a crush on his whole life. It was wrong... and yes... i didnt speak to him for 13 yrs .....but now she and i agree he should be able to move on. Do you think Im crazy... is this wrong for me to think? I would appreciate your honesty...you seem well versed in the subject.

Do I think you're crazy? No, of course I don�t. Every crime has different circumstances, and one can not expect a blanket law conceived of through intense emotional zealotry to be fair or effective.
Unfortunately, people are not concerned about actually being safe. That would require laws that made sense, and in order to make laws that made sense, the community as a whole has to learn about and understand the actual problem. It�s too much work. People just want to feel safe. That brings us to reply #25...

Reply #25

From: "Spice3386@aol.com" (Spice3386@aol.com)
Date: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 7:27 PM

Megan's law is a very good idea and i totally agree with it. I live in southern NJ and we have a child Molester around the corner, and we were informed, and I like that, it made me feel safer.

What about the child molester you don't know about?

Reply #26

From: "Jan"
Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 2:13 PM

Not all registered sex offenders are guilty and this is something we all need to remember. It can happen to you just as easy as it can happen to anyone else. You are guilty until you can prove you are innocent and you dont have any rights. You run out of money and you re given a plea bargain, so you take the plea bargain so you can see your kids again. Our justice system is not working for the best interest of us all.

I dig.

Reply #27

From: "Wrongly Persecuted"
Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 2:27 PM

I want to tell all those who replied to this rant that I am one of those who has been PERMANENTLY damaged by the effects of Megan's Law and all the furor surrounding it. And while I doubt I'll get any sympathy here, I would like people to put themselves in my shoes for a moment.

In 1996 I was 23 and made an error in judgement and slept with a young lady who claimed to be 19 and turned out later to be 15. I didn't doubt her claims as she was 2" taller than my 5'8" and didn't betray her age by her behavior. Arguably, this is a relatively minor offense in the grand scheme of things since it was A) consentual, and B) she'd already had a baby at the age of 12 which she said was taken away to foster care. So this means she was by no means an innocent to such matters. Long story short, rather than face the possibility of 14 years in prison, I plead guilty to statutory later that year and got 3 years probation with what that state calls a "suspended imposition of sentence" (SIS).

Here's where it starts to get frustrating. With an SIS probation your case is sealed from public view after you complete your probation successfully. This is supposed to make your case invisible to the public, right? WRONG! You still have to register. So this makes it so that when you go to apply for a job and they do a background check, there's a registration right there in plain view, yet they can't find the charge that spawned it. Prospective employers don't like dead ends when they're investigating you.

Shortly after being placed on probation I filed to have my probation moved to another state and moved back to the state I grew up in. I finished my probation without a hitch and was released by the original state with my case having been sealed. Yet I was STILL required to register! My thinking is, if the case is resolved and I no longer have a visible record, shouldn't I be released from registration as well? Apparently not since registration is handled by civil authorities and not criminal authorities.

In the past 5 years I've had 3 jobs taken away from me due to the nature of my past. At the first, a customer who had nothing better to do than peruse the registration website came in with my photo and entry from that site. My employer (after 4.5 years of outstanding service) accused me of falsifying my application by saying I had no convictions. And even after proving through court-signed documents that my case was sealed and therefore not required to be listed, they still wouldn't give me my job back because the cat was out of the bag.

Another job was with a security company and they couldn't get me a license because the state agency found the record, and told my employer about it. A blatant violation of the original state's court seal! I wouldn't have minded them refusing the license had they not divulged the contents of a sealed court case.

And my most recent employer did the same thing as the first, they accused me of falsifying my application, more than a year and a half after I'd started working for them. I plead my case yet again, but the stigma was too much for them to ignore. And not only was I fired, but also BANNED from their stores!!! Though I'd never presented any sort of threat, perceived or otherwise.

Recently I thought I'd found a loophole in my home state's laws that should exempt me from registration and asked my lawyer to look into having the registration requirement removed. But no good deed goes unpunished. Yesterday I found out that when my current home state contacted the original state, they found out that the original state had since passed a law requiring lifetime registration. This was passed AFTER I left.

Well, since my home state has a policy of doing whatever the state the case was originally tried in would do. That means they're now planning to up my registration requirement from once a year for ten years (I'm in year 7), to once every 90 DAYS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! And the only way they can do that here is by moving me into a much higher threat category of Habitual Sexual Predator, which also requires the sheriff to notify my neighbors. Although my case and disposition only classified me as a Sexually Oriented Offender in the original state and, until this happened, my current state. So now all my neighbors are going to know about a sealed case because the sheriff will have to notify them of my registration.

This has effectively made it so that I CANNOT find a job in the public sector working in the line of work I am most qualified for (retail computer sales and repair). Nobody wants to hire you if you're a registered sex offender, regardless of whether you would never be a threat to anyone. They're too worried about liability if someone found out.

Now, I ask you, the people who so righteously think that these laws are God's will and the best thing since sliced bread.
Do you think that maybe, just maybe, I've been given a very raw deal from the short end of the stick?
Do you think its fair that I should be unable to find work in my chosen and trained field?
Do you think its fair that they should move me up to a predator classification simply so they can require me to register for the next 70 years rather than the next 3?
Do you think maybe we're stripping people of their rights to live a productive life?

And before you spew out a litany of self-righteous indignation because I would question the wisdom of such laws, consider these facts:

I am of no risk to anyone. My last two girlfriends were, in fact, older than me.
It has been proven that HABITUAL sex offenders who are hounded or denied the opportunity to work are put under an enormous amount of stress that may cause them to re-offend just so they feel some control over their lives.
Knowing a sex offender lives on your street does little but make you nervous or paranoid. Keeping an eye on your children, teaching them good safety skills, and checking on who they talk to are much better measures to ensure their safety. Parents who are too busy with work or other activities to watch their own kids have no one to blame but themselves when their inattention gets their kids hurt.
In Texas, there is a little boy who was put on the sex-offender rolls at the age of TWO. What was this little toddler's crime? He ran around the daycare facility kissing all the little girls! I guess innocent little kids aren't allowed to be affectionate.
I forget the state, but I read a story about young man of 17 who had just completed his junior year of high school. And when he rode past the school in his friend's car after school, he mooned the vice-principal. Now this kid has to register as a sex-offender for 10 years. While I can see how mooning is offensive, I see nothing sexual about it.
A local man was recently required to register as a sex offender because a cop caught him pissing on a dumpster in an alley.
Another local man was recently fired by his employer because the IT guys found porn on his office PC. When they found out that a couple of the pictures in the website cache were actually underage teens, he was charged as a sex offender and now has to register FOR LIFE because what someone else put on an adult site turned out to not be an adult.

Is browsing porn at work wrong? Yes.
Is he responsible for the content of someone else's site? No.

And not only has he lost his job, but he was also a pillar of his community and coach of one of his kids' sports teams. And now all that's been taken away from him.

I just want people to realize that this lynch-mob mentality against sex offenders is doing more harm than good in the long run. Yes, I think treatment after prison works. Yes, I think those who are at risk should be monitored and treated. But I think it can be done in ways that are MUCH less invasive and don't trample people's rights to privacy, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

People think this law punishes the guilty. That�s all they see, anyway. Just the suggestion that this law isn�t effective will cause uproar. The main idea behind it is to protect children, not just to punish the convicted. It doesn�t protect children anywhere near the level people think it does.

Reply #28

From: "Liz"
Date: Friday, November 05, 2004 3:29 PM

First things first im from UK so we don't have megan's law or it's equivilant,some people will think that means that i shouldn't have an opinion,well tough because i do.

Megan's law is meant to highlight dangerous preditory animals that are in the minority, they have been caught, punished & may re-offened, these people & i use the term loosely, are publicly outed for what they are, the vilest incarnation of human beings there is.

The sex offenders register isn't meant to make everyone walk round in a bubble of self-delusion that knowing about the minority of convicted paedophiles, especially those living in the immediate area, will make all children safe, it's meant to give parents an extra weapon when it comes to keeping their child out of harms way.

Knowing that the sweet guy next door isn't just being nice to the kids,that he's really a sick perverted sexual preditor who is grooming your child to act out whatever sick games he gets off on is vital for a parent. If the guy has been convicted for sexually abusing children then a little knowledge goes a long way. No that doesn't mean that the bloke who is always in the park on his own but has never been caught is any less of a threat it just means that the 'sweet' guy next door can't get away with making even the slightest move on your child, that doesn't mean that you can have the atitude of 'I know who the sicko is,I know where he is so I can let my guard down because you can't but knowing what your dealing with is better than ignorance.

Megan's law should be looked at as an EXTRA line of defence when it comes to protecting children not as the ONLY protection.

The UK had a chance to implement a similar law, Sarah's law, it was rejected personally I think it was a mistake any information that can help protect a child can only be a good thing, if Megan's law only stops one innocent life being shattered then it has served it's purpose.

But what if the sweet guy next door has never been convicted of anything? I guess it would be okay for him to shag some little kid then. After all, the government didn�t say he was a threat, so it�s okay not to be a fucking parent and pay fucking attention, right?