Paul v. Davis - Megan's Law: Is It Okay To Tell?

Should communities be warned of the possibility of convicted child molesters and rapists moving into their neighborhoods? That question is at the center of the controversy surrounding "Megan's Law," a New Jersey statute that has been emulated by a number of other states. The name of the law comes from that of seven-year-old Megan Kanka, raped and murdered by a child molester who lived across the street from her and who had served six years for two counts of child sexual abuse. When the community found out, it was too late; hence Megan's Law, which requires that released sex offenders register with local authorities before moving in to a neighborhood.

Advocate Bonnie Steinbock, stated that "the paramount issue is the protection of children, that their rights to be safe from violent sexual assault certainly outweigh the rights of sexual predators not to be stigmatized." Nonetheless, she took issue with the fact that the law may encourage "vigilantism." A particularly tragic incident occurred in Warren County, New Jersey, when a father and son broke into the house of a known molester and beat to death a man they found there--a man who happened to be innocent.