A lawyer for New Jersey arguing Monday before the state Supreme Court called it vital to public safety that certain sex offenders register as such for life. “Society has the right to know of their presence, not in order to punish them, but to protect itself,” Deputy Attorney General Emily Anderson said, defending a provision of a 1994 law named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka of Hamilton Township who was raped and murdered by a neighbor already twice convicted of sexual assault. Full Article
Read MoreTag: New Jersey
NJ: He was labeled a sex offender as a teen. Now he is challenging the law that made him register as one.
At a glance, the 23-year-old has a stellar resume. He graduated magna cum laude from Binghamton University, where he was a part of an Honors Academic Society and routinely on the Dean’s list. During college, he tutored others in calculus and was a teacher’s assistant. He also volunteered at the Jewish Relief Agency collecting, packaging and distributing goods to disadvantaged families. The Union County resident now works as a financial analyst-at-large for an international telecommunications company in the tri-state area. But each year he must check in with law enforcement. He…
Read MoreNJ: Legal Opportunity for New Jersey Registrants
Individuals convicted of a sex offense in New Jersey who are currently on community supervision for life may have an opportunity to join a lawsuit. Opportunities are limited to those placed in the Bo Robinson Assessment Center. Anyone interested in exploring this opportunity should contact Raymon Hof at [email protected].
Read MoreNJ: Gov. Murphy Vetoes 12 Bills, Signs Law Protecting Sex Victims
[patch.com – 5/13/19] New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to help protect sex-abuse victims while also vetoing 12 bills on Monday. Murphy signed legislation (S477) extending the statute of limitations in civil actions for sexual abuse claims. The signing comes just days after a law firm released the names of more than 100 people who allegedly committed sexual abuse while serving in the Catholic church’s clergy. The law also creates a two-year window for parties to bring lawsuits based on sexual abuse that would be time-barred even with the…
Read MoreNJ: Huge increase in released sex offenders is draining resources from other inmates
Across the United States, a growing number of incarcerated individuals are being released to face the barriers to reintegration with no support. From 1990 to 2012, the number of max-outs – those who serve their entire sentences incarcerated and are released entirely unsupervised – increased by 119 percent, so that according to the latest numbers from Pew Charitable Trusts, the current max out rate across the country is 22 percent. … Nevertheless, the number of individuals released to supervision in New Jersey continues to decline. In 2003, nearly 7,777 individuals…
Read MoreWhen stealing LEGOs adds to a lifetime of consequences
A petition argues that people seeking to escape the sex offender registry, including those put on it as children, deserve more than a single shot. Full Article
Read MoreNJ: Court Stops Retroactive Application of Lifetime Registration Law
An appellate court in New Jersey has ruled that the state government cannot retroactively apply a new law that requires life-time registration to registrants who had the possibility of relief from that registration at the time they pled guity. According to the Court, the restroactive application of the new law would be “manifestly unfair” to registrants. “Although the New Jersey court based its decision on the intent of the state legislature and not on the ex post facto clause of the U.S. Constitution, it reached the right decision when it…
Read MoreNJ Supreme Court Bars Retroactive Application of Megan’s Law Amendments
[law.com – 5/30/18] The New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday held 2014 amendments to Megan’s Law enhancing certain penalties for sex offenders who violate parole requirements unenforceable against four defendants based on the ex post facto clauses of both the state and federal constitutions. Read more Related: NJ Supreme Court finds Ex Post Facto violations as applied to 4 sex offenders [floridaactioncommittee.org – 5/31/18]
Read MoreNJ: Science and Law Evolve Together, Sex Offender Registry Case Reminds Us
This is how law and social science are meant to intersect. The case reminds us that, as our knowledge of human behavior evolves, our approach to legal issues will evolve as well. Full Article Decision
Read MoreHey, NJ — ‘Dead Kids Make Bad Laws’
The above quote isn’t mine, and I would give attribution except that I don’t know who originally said it, but it is so true. Dead kids usually make for emotional, broad brush laws that do more harm than good. I know that in NJ we feel proud of ourselves that we are the state that pioneered the sex-offender registry called Megan’s Law, the law that arose from tragedy in 1994, when 7-year-old Megan Kanka of Hamilton Township was raped and killed by Jesse Timmendeques, a neighbor. But anytime tragedy befalls…
Read MoreNJ: After state Supreme Court ruling, few sex offenders likely get reprieve from Megan’s Law
A New Jersey Supreme Court ruling exempting certain sex offenders from Megan’s Law registration requirements isn’t likely to apply to more than a few dozen people, state officials said Wednesday, as the public defender’s office began contacting people who now may be eligible to be taken off the list. Full Article
Read MoreNJ Supreme Court Strikes Down Mandatory Lifetime Registration for Juvenile Sex Offenders
On Tuesday, April, 24, 2018 the New Jersey Supreme Court struck down a provision of Megan’s Law that required certain juvenile sex offenders to register for life. The case, State in the Interest of C.K., involved a juvenile adjudicated delinquent for a sex offense committed when he was a teenager. The High Court noted that twenty years had passed since C.K. committed his offense and that multiple psychological evaluations had found he posed “an extremely low risk to reoffend.” The Court held that requiring individuals, like C.K., to register for…
Read MoreNJ: How N.J. determines which sex offenders are dangerous, explained
Keeping track of New Jersey’s registered sex offenders falls to Megan’s Law units in all 21 counties. That includes classifying offenders based on the potential danger they pose to the public. When offenders registered in other states move to New Jersey, they undergo a fresh classification process based on Garden State guidelines. Full Article
Read MoreNJ: Opposition to Blanket Community Notification in New Jersey
[sexlawandpolicy.org] Today, SLAP Center delivered a letter to Assemblywoman Amy Handlin and Senator Christopher Bateman outlining our opposition to their proposal to allow for community notification of New Jersey’s Tier 1 registrants. New Jersey has three tiers of registrants, with only Tiers 2 and 3 currently available to the public. Tier 1 registrants are assessed as having little to no risk of re-offense and are not included on the publicly accessible registry, as such; the public is not notified of their registration information. Tier 1 registrants include people who were…
Read MoreNJ: How the new ‘child erotica’ law might help stop sex predators
[nj.com] A new law that further defines child pornography and more heavily prosecutes those who distribute and possess it went into effect recently, and law enforcers are hoping it’ll help keep offenders behind bars. The legislation effectively closes a gap where possessors of “child erotica” — photos or videos of children who are being portrayed sexually or exploited — but aren’t necessarily nude, wasn’t considered child pornography. They are now. The law was signed by Gov. Chris Christie in July 2017 and went into effect Feb. 1. Officials say it’ll…
Read MoreNJ: NJ child porn kingpin pleads guilty, experts say Megan’s Law cannot prevent sex abuse
[trentonian.com] TRENTON >> An Ocean County man who possessed over 36,000 videos and images of child pornography pleaded guilty Tuesday to distributing child pornography online. Anthony White, 31, of Lakewood, is facing a six-year recommended prison sentence and will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, but two New Jersey experts warn that sex offender registration and notification laws do not prevent sexual violence. Psychology professors Elizabeth Jeglic of Cranbury and Cynthia Calkins Mercado of Union City dispute the conventional wisdom of Megan’s Law in a…
Read MoreNJ: Area woman wants notice of all sex offenders on internet website
Legislation that has been introduced by state Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth) would, if passed in the Legislature and signed into law by the governor, allow members of the public to access information concerning all sex offenders, regardless of an individual’s risk of committing additional offenses in the future. Full Article
Read MoreNJ: The disappeared defy good Megan’s Law record | Editorial
The alliterative term “active absconders” has a nice ring to it, but those to whom the State of New Jersey applies the term are likely to be anything but nice. They’re serious sex offenders who have disappeared without a trace after initial registration under New Jersey’s first-in-the-nation Megan’s Law, based on classifications that are supposed to follow them for life. Full Article Related http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/01/have_you_seen_these_registered_sex_offenders_polic.html
Read More