The federal law, “The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006”, took effect July 27, 2006 signed by President Bush. It established the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, also known as “SORNA”. This law played a big role to make federal laws stronger and protect those who cannot protect themselves. It helped to prevent our children from sexual crimes, and and make the internet safer. If failure to register, it’s a federal criminal penalty of up to 10 years of imprisonment. Among its many requirements, the sex offenders are divided into three tiers and having different registry periods for each.
Policy Analysis: Megan’s Law Sexual violence, particularly against children, is a significant issue all around the world. In the early 1990’s in the United States, there were multiple well-publicized cases of sexual violence against children. From kidnappings, to rapes, and everything in between, violence was being committed against children and something needed to be done about it. In 1996, Megan’s Law was passed in response to the sexual assault and death of Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old from New Jersey (Corrigan, 2006).
On July 29, 1994, New Jersey resident Megan Kanka was lured into the home of Jesse Timmendequas, a convicted sex offender, with promises of seeing a puppy (Corrigan, 2006). Once she entered his house, she was raped twice, strangled with a belt, and suffocated with a bag (Corrigan, 2006). Timmendequas was arrested soon after and confessed to this crime (Corrigan, 2006). This event outraged Kanka's parents and the surrounding community (Corrigan, 2006). They used this tragic death to create Megan's Law as an addition to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children Violent Offender Registration Act, which required sex offenders to register within their counties (Welchans, 2005).
The Utah Sex Offender Registry has many purposes and has been around for quite some time. Unfortunately, every state is different and often times the entertainment industry portrays the registry in a false light. The Utah Department of Corrections wants to deflate some of the major myths surrounding the sex offender registry. The most common myth the sex offender registry office receives daily is, “An offender was on the registry yesterday, why are they not on there now?”
They must provide their name, recent photograph, physical description, list of offenses for which they were convicted, current address, place of employment or school, and automobile license plate number. However, the extent of community notification varies across states. Some states require active community notification, such as notifying schools and day-care centers, while others make the information available only to the public. The national registry of sex offenders, established under the Pam Lyncher Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act, allows state officials to determine whether a job applicant at a day-care center or other sensitive positions is a registered sex offender in any of the participating
Furthermore, this leaves room for states to implement their own practices and ways to address status offenders. It has also been argued that the Act “fractured the juvenile justice system so that officials in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare handled white, middle-income youth” (Hinton, 2015, p. 816). Programs which labeled white youths as “children in trouble” marked minority youths as “chronic offenders” who were deemed a danger to society, and tried as an adult. The exceptions and revisions that have been made to the Act make it possible for repeat status offenders to be detained in secure
Analysis of Social Policy: Indian child Welfare Act (ICWA) According to the Children’s Bureau there were 415,129 children in foster care in 2014. American Indian children made up 2% of this number, or 9,517 children (AFCARS Report, 2015). The proportion of American Indian Children residing in foster care is alarming because it is more than twice as large as the proportion of American Indians residing in the general population. American Indians make up .9% of the population of the United States.
It includes lesser sex crimes like, video voyeurism of a minor, lewdness, or non-violent sexual contact with anyone over 18 or possession or receipt of child pornography. Within Tier 1, there are also some more harmless offenses like urinating in public or streaking. If the offender with a Tier 1 has a clean record he/she may reduce the registration time from 15 to 10 years. It is required by law for sex offenders to appear in person every certain time to have a picture taken and verify registry information. Tier I sex offenders must appear every year, Tier II sex offenders every six month, and Tier III sex offenders every three months.
Oklahoma State Legislature must act swiftly and with force to impact the fight. Laws already in place are being amended in an effort to reduce potential threats for adolescents in Oklahoma. For example, Oklahoma State Senator Josh Brecheen added to an already existing law to include how a person can be penalized, rather than increasing the penalty itself. “Another major change is currently sex traffickers can only be penalized if they recruit through fraud, deception or coercion. Under the new law, anyone found recruiting for sex trafficking, regardless of how they do it, will be penalized (Oklahoma State Senate).”
No other law will require you to register as a sex offender, and restrict you to live near children for the rest of your life. However, there are some aspects of it that are needed, especially if the person is a repeat sex offender. The flaws of the Scarlet Letter Laws are clear. People can change,
This would be beneficial to communities to know where these offenders live and what they look like so they could avoid them. Megan’s Law provides info about the offender’s conviction and a very detailed description of the offense. Even for non-violent offender’s this would be good for the community to know the identity of the person and a description of what they did. Lisa Squitieri stated, “It has been effective for what it was intended to be. It put sex offenders on notice and notifies the public.
America has a strict law, which protects our citizens from predators; sex offender registries are exemplifications. In the article “Protect Yourself, Family From Sex Offenders,” Rick Schneider argues that sex offender’s name should not be taken off even after they had served their time. Many can argue that registries are a good way for the government authorities to keep track, and to protect the community from any violence caused by sex offenders. For example, many people may believe the registry protects people from predators because it allows others to know where the predators are and how likely they are to strike again. On the other hand, some people consider that it is “horribly unfair” to release the names and addresses of offenders
When working with children and young people, it is important that their safety and well-being is paramount. There are a number of guidelines, policies and procedures which cover the safeguarding of pupils, including; Working together to safeguard children (2013)- This policy sets out guidelines of how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. As well as laying out these guidelines, the document also provides a summary of: The nature of child abuse and neglect and the impact it may have on children and young people. How to operate the best practice in child protection procedure.
Should Sex Offenders Name be Public? It is debatable if sex offenders names should be public, some people believe is a invasion of there private life, “There is a real danger of vigilantism and publicizing their names (and the info required goes far beyond just their names) is an invasion of privacy of the wives, children and families of these offenders, which is an invasion of privacy no other class of criminal faces”(debate.org) . Others believe this is not even debatable, that Sex offenders name should be public, period, “Once somebody commits a sexual crime, they have given up their right to anonymity.
Sources: Department Of Corrections, Washington. Sex Offender Management Assesment And Planning
1. Know about legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding the welfare of children and young people, including e-safety. 1.1 Identify the current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding the welfare of children and young people, including e-safety. Children Act 1989 This act was bought about to simplify the laws that protect children by bringing private and public law together.