Megans Law Essay, Research Paper

The purpose of Megans Law is to let the public know when a convicted sex offender is released into their community. Mr. Michael Chertoff, a former U.S. attorney has a curious question for our states corrections department. “How can members of the public be informed when dangerous predators have been released into their community, if the prosecutors, who are supposed to notify the public, have not been told either?” Mr. Chertoff did investigate this and found out that this isn’t just a small problem anymore.

Take the Alves case for example. Raymond Alves, a convicted rapist was in jail for twenty-three years and was let out unannounced. Prosecutors were told days after the fact and were not ale to find him because he gave out false information about where he was living. Megans Law requires prosecutors to be notified thirty days or more ahead of time so they have sufficient time to file a challenge, or to see if he’s a threat to society.

At a senate hearing, Jack Terhune, a corrections commissioner said he has not found any other case besides the Alves case where the prosecutors were not properly notified ahead of time. Meanwhile, they were getting a whole different story from Mr. Chertoff, who asked twenty one county prosecutors if they have been getting their proper Megans Law notifications on time. The prosecutors answer was between January 1, 1999 and March 1, 2000, they have received one hundred and fifty Megans Law notifications less than thirty days prior to an inmate being let out. More than ninety of those came less than seven days before the release or after. Chris Carden, a spokesperson for the corrections department made a comment that the numbers did not match up and said “ that’s a far cry from saying there have been no other cases of improper notification.

In the stir of the Alves mess, Mr. Terhune did take action and fired eight of his employees for errors, including two psychologists. Terhune is also making new rules like better training for all employees that come in so that this problem will not happen again. They also have a new web page up for the prosecutors to find out when any sex offenders are released in the area so that there is no question in anyone’s mind.

In my opinion I believe in Megans Law 100%. If there is a sex offender moving into my community I would want to make sure my family and I are safe. I think that what is happening with the corrections department should be dealt with in a more strict fashion. I believe that Terhunes new rules may help the situation but they are not going to solve the problem. What happens when the corrections department forgets to put the name on the web page? The same thing will happen over and over. I think by training the employees who are involved with the release of the sex offenders better, they will have a better system and this problem will not occur again.

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The purpose of Megans Law is to let the public know when a convicted sex offender is released into their community. Mr. Michael Chertoff, a former U.S. attorney has a curious question for our states corrections department. “How can members of the public be informed when dangerous predators have been released into their community, if the prosecutors, who are supposed to notify the public, have not been told either?” Mr. Chertoff did investigate this and found out that this isn’t just a small problem anymore.

Take the Alves case for example. Raymond Alves, a convicted rapist was in jail for twenty-three years and was let out unannounced. Prosecutors were told days after the fact and were not ale to find him because he gave out false information about where he was living. Megans Law requires prosecutors to be notified thirty days or more ahead of time so they have sufficient time to file a challenge, or to see if he’s a threat to society.

At a senate hearing, Jack Terhune, a corrections commissioner said he has not found any other case besides the Alves case where the prosecutors were not properly notified ahead of time. Meanwhile, they were getting a whole different story from Mr. Chertoff, who asked twenty one county prosecutors if they have been getting their proper Megans Law notifications on time. The prosecutors answer was between January 1, 1999 and March 1, 2000, they have received one hundred and fifty Megans Law notifications less than thirty days prior to an inmate being let out. More than ninety of those came less than seven days before the release or after. Chris Carden, a spokesperson for the corrections department made a comment that the numbers did not match up and said “ that’s a far cry from saying there have been no other cases of improper notification.

In the stir of the Alves mess, Mr. Terhune did take action and fired eight of his employees for errors, including two psychologists. Terhune is also making new rules like better training for all employees that come in so that this problem will not happen again. They also have a new web page up for the prosecutors to find out when any sex offenders are released in the area so that there is no question in anyone’s mind.

In my opinion I believe in Megans Law 100%. If there is a sex offender moving into my community I would want to make sure my family and I are safe. I think that what is happening with the corrections department should be dealt with in a more strict fashion. I believe that Terhunes new rules may help the situation but they are not going to solve the problem. What happens when the corrections department forgets to put the name on the web page? The same thing will happen over and over. I think by training the employees who are involved with the release of the sex offenders better, they will have a better system and this problem will not occur again.