Why Megan's Law Is Getting An F

12-7-2009 National:

It seems like, every day, there's a story about a child abused by a convicted sex offender, even though there's a federal law that is supposed to keep track of them.

So is there something wrong with Megan's Law?

The Early Show takes a closer look this week in a special series called "Broken Promise." Correspondent Tracy Smith offers the details.

Megan's Law was written with the best of intentions, but a growing body of evidence suggests it may not be living up to its promise.

Megan's law promise as it were was to do one thing, provide the public with the names of former sex offenders living in communities, it didn't even promise to provide addresses this came later. Then, as now, ALL the Megans' laws are, is, a telephone book of names and addresses which show where former offenders (registrants) SLEEP for a few hours of the day. It does not and never intended to show where former offenders are the rest of the day. Far too many people READ-INTO the law OTHER-PROMISES which come from what they think the law should provide. Megans' laws cannot be anything more than a glorified telephone book with pictures.

Mark Lunsford rarely comes home these days.

"I'm just not here," he says. "I'm either at work or I'm out. I don't come home anymore."

The murder of his daughter, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, haunts him. Her alleged killer, John Couie, a registered sex offender arrested 24 times, lived right next door to their Florida home.

Lunsford says he believed he lived in a safe neighborhood.

Mark Lundsford didn't even live in the same home as his daughter when she was abducted, he lived with his girlfriend several miles away!

He says, "Maybe a lot of us are just ignorant to it, not knowing that it could happen to any of us."

Six weeks after Jessica was killed, the body of Sarah Lunde, 13, was found. The cops believe she was choked to death by her mother's old boyfriend, also a registered sex offender, also in Florida.

These two horrifying murders direct the public's attention, once again, to the broken promise of Megan's Law.

Asked if Megan's Law worked in the Lunsford case, Florida Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsey says, "Apparently, this guy went undetected into the community. Nobody knew that he was there."

Right here is the falacy of Megan's law: The law shows where an registrant SLEEPS for a few hours of the day, it does not show where the registrant is the rest of the time. During non-sleeping hours a registrant can walk, travel etc. whereever they wish and do so UNDETECTED. Sheriff Dawsey misleads the public with his comment by ignoring the limits of Megan's law (covers SLEEPING HOURS only). Technically ALL REGISTRANTS are UNREGISTERED during non-sleeping hours! The law is nothing more then a harmful joke played on the public by politicians who use it for personal gratification and getting votes to keep them in office.

Megan's Law was named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, brutally murdered in 1994 by a two-time sex offender who lived directly across the street.

The law requires states to register convicted sex offenders and to notify neighborhoods when offenders move in.

Laura Ahearn says, "The spirit of Megan's Law is, that if a predator moves in next door to you, you will be notified. That's just not the case." Ahearn runs Parents For Megan's Law , a watchdog group that examines how strictly states adhere to the law. She notes, "We did a 50-state survey and what I found is that across the country, most states are failing, so I would give Megan's Law an F."

Ironically, Florida, the home of Jessica Lunsford and Sarah Lunde, received an A+ for its tough guidelines, and still offenders easily got around the law.

Registrants (including John Couey) did not -get around the law- the law cannot control a person's every move, which is the inherent falacy of Megan's law. People choose to SLEEP whenever they wish, most folks have different SLEEPING hours, the law cannot say when a person is to sleep. Therefore, abductions or other crimes can occur at any hour of the day or night, by those registered and by anyone else from the community.

Ahearn says, "We have two tragedies in Florida that demonstrate that Megan's Law is certainly not enough. ..Source.. by CBS News.com