Megans Law Essay -- essays research papers

MEGANS police force PROTECT THE CHILDREN OR THE PEDOPHILES Megan Kanka was an innocent little girl, someones daughter, sister, and trump friend. The suspect, Jesse Timmendequas, changed all of that. He changed it viciously, savagely, and permanently. In a few moments of unspeakable horror, the defendant destroyed all of Megans dreams, all of that joy, all that hope, all that promise. In those few moments, he destroyed Megan Kankas living. She would never live to see her wedding day, never have children, and never embrace her family again. Jesse Timmendequas took Megans 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 Megans home without the familys knowledge of his history as a pedophile. Joseph Cifelli was another convicted sex offender who had spent nine years at the Adult Diagnostic and intercession Center. He had been convicted after admitting to repeated sexua l abuse of a intercourse 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 down the stairs investigation in connection with the unsolved murders of two boys in San Diego. completely three were Megans 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 innocent 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 sharpen. 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. Megans body was strand in a weeded area of a get onby park nea r a portable toilet.On May 30, 1997, a jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts of murder including capital murder, kidnapping, and provoked sexual assault and sentenced Jesse Timmendequas to destruction. It was this little girls brutal death that prompted her parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka, to fight for broad based community notification. Megans parents believe that if they had cognise that a pedophile lived nearby, this heinous crime... ...s overdue process. Due process is crush defined in one word--fairness. When a person is treated below the belt 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 aim of risk they pose to communities. This argument centers on whether an offender is allowed a comprehend to challenge a risk classification. The Massachuse tts Supreme Court recently found that provisions of the states community notification right 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 its opinion as to whether or not offenders due process or Ex Post Facto rights are be violated by Megans Law. Are we bothered by the circumstance 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 case law is impossible to ignore.As parents, though... are we okay with it.