National Megan's Law Report Card States Failing To Make The Grade

- With Over 550,000 Sex Offenders Registered Nationally,
Survey Reveals Communities Have Been Lead To A
False Sense of Security -

Laura A. Ahearn, Executive Director of Parents for Megan's Law, a national child advocacy and Megan's Law watchdog agency, announced today the release of the startling results of their national survey which evaluated the community level accessibility of sex offender registration information, the extent of information available and national participation in civil commitment laws. States were assigned a letter grade based upon the results of ten questions. The national Megan's law average and most occurring grade was a stunning F (58%).

Megan's Law was suppose to guarantee that if a sex offender moved in next door, you would be notified by law enforcement, but thats just not the case, said Ahearn. In fact, she added, Many states, 22, dont even require door-to-door active community notification. And, relying upon Internet registries can be risky too because many (21) state Internet registries leave out most registrants.

Because Megan's Law is a federal law that set forth minimal standards for the states to meet, Ahearn is calling upon state lawmakers to strengthen their laws and the federal administration to strengthen policies to require states to strengthen their laws which will lead to a more uniform Megan's Law nationally.

HIGHLIGHTS
(CALL FOR SPREADSHEET WITH YOUR STATES ANSWERS & GRADE)

(22) States Don't Require Active Community Notification
(21) States DO NOT Include ALL Offenders On Registries
(5) States Don't Have Internet Registries
(2) States Won't Allow Anonymous Access On Their Registry
(33) States Register Juveniles and 20 Notify
(27) States Do not have a call-in number to access the registry (1 charges $10.00)
(28) States Do not have civil commitment laws to keep sexual violent predators confined

Contact your state lawmakers and work with them to ensure that your state law requires active community notification, requires that all offenders be placed on your Internet Registry and that the information is accessible for free and without barriers, that your state registers juveniles and authorizes notification on some, that you have a toll-free call in number for your registry and that your state has civil commitment laws in place.

Call your state lawmakers and contact the President to voice your concern that the federal Megan's Law guidlines are weak and lack uniformity.