About Megan's Law
Megan's Law, which addresses sex offenders and
child molesters was signed by President Clinton on May 17, 1996.
Megan's Law was much needed, despite Washington
State's 1990 Community Protection Act which included America's
first law authorizing public notification when dangerous sex
offenders are released into the community. It was the brutal
1994 rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka by a previously
Registered Sex Offender that prompted the public demand for
broad-based community notification.
Megan's Law requires the following two components:
Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification.
About Sex Offender Registration
The 1994 Jacob Wetterling Act requires the States
to register sex offenders registered of sex crimes against children.
Sex offender registration laws are necessary because:
Megan's Law & Sex Offender
Community Notification
Megan’s Law allows the States discretion
to establish criteria for disclosure, but compels them to make
private and personal information on registered sex offenders
available to the public.
Community notification:
