Megans Law Essay -- essays research papers

MEGAN’S LAW PROTECT THE CHILDREN OR THE PEDOPHILES Megan Kanka was an innocent little girl, someone’s daughter, sister, and best friend. The defendant, Jesse Timmendequas, changed all of that. He changed it brutally, savagely, and permanently. In a few moments of unspeakable horror, the defendant destroyed all of Megan’s dreams, all of that joy, all that hope, all that promise. In those few moments, he destroyed Megan Kanka’s life. She would never live to see her wedding day, never have children, and never embrace her family again. Jesse Timmendequas took Megan’s life on July 24, 1994. Her funeral was held on Wednesday, August 3, 1994. Jesse Timmendequas was a twice convicted sex offender. He moved in across the street from Megan’s home without the family’s knowledge of his history as a pedophile. Joseph Cifelli was another convicted sex offender who had spent nine years at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center. He had been convicted after admitting to repeated sexual abuse of a relative that had begun when the child was nine. A third man, Brian R. Jenin had been convicted twice of crimes involving young boys. Jenin, along with Timmendequas, was under investigation in connection with the unsolved murders of two boys in San Diego. All three were Megan's neighbors. Jesse Timmendequas’ convictions stemmed from a 1981 attack on a 5 year old girl, for which he served 9 months. That same year he was convicted for an attempted rape of a 7 year old girl, for which he was sentenced to ten years. After serving only six years, he was free to lure 7 year old Megan into his home where he brutally raped and strangling her with a belt as she bit and fought for life. He knocked her to the floor, hitting her several times in the head. He wrapped her head in plastic shopping bags to prevent her blood from staining the rugs. He then took a toy box and stuffed her inside. Megan’s body was found in a weeded area of a nearby park near a portable toilet. On May 30, 1997, a jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts of murder including capital murder, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault and sentenced Jesse Timmendequas to death. It was this little girl’s brutal death that prompted her parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka, to fight for broad based community notification. Megan’s parents believe that if they had known that a pedophile lived nearby, this heinous crime... ...s due process. Due process is best defined in one word--fairness. When a person is treated unfairly by the government, including the courts, he is said to have been deprived of or denied due process. The most common and successful due process challenge is procedural due process. This challenge has occurred mainly in states that classify offenders according to the level of risk they pose to communities. This argument centers on whether an offender is allowed a hearing to challenge a risk classification. The Massachusetts Supreme Court recently found that provisions of the state’s community notification law violated constitutional due process Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Board, Mass. SJC-07608 (July 24,1998). The United States Supreme Court has yet to weigh in it’s opinion as to whether or not offender’s due process or Ex Post Facto rights are being violated by Megan’s Law. Are we bothered by the fact that in the current social climate, the rights of convicted pedophiles are routinely violated and nobody cares. Rules of evidence are stretched, and terms of punishment are increased. The danger of this precedent is impossible to ignore. As parents, though... are we okay with it.