Identify and discuss laws that require convicted sex offenders and certain other types of felons to register with local authorities. What are the arguments for and against these laws?
What will be an ideal response?
Every state has a form of Megan’s law as well as the federal government. Megan’s laws are named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a twice-convicted sex offender who lived across the street. Supporters of these registration laws say citizens deserve to know if convicted sex offenders are living in their neighborhoods and argue registration laws are not unfair, since their conviction is already a manner of public record. Opponents of the law call it a “government-imposed stigma” preventing those convicted from moving on with their lives after serving their time. They say Megan’s laws represent an overly intrusive invasion of privacy since other criminal records are not subject to such readily available public scrutiny.
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What will be an ideal response?