Guest Opinion Guest Opinion (September 24, 2004)

Megan's Law is unjust to all

By Nancy Bernard

Megan's Law requires police to notify residents when an individual who has been convicted of sex crimes moves into their neighborhood. So far, so good. Knowledge is power: if we know of a dangerous situation, we can avoid it.

However, there are difficulties in the details that make this law unjust to citizens, ex-convicts and the police.

The law is unjust to citizens in several ways: first, in the way it presents the information. The handouts police distributed regarding Hector Chavez, a high-risk sex offender who recently moved to Mountain View, gave blunt details of the crimes he was convicted of -- details sure to inflame emotions, whether to fear or fury. It frightens people.

The handout did not say anything about the current status of the high-risk offender. There is no mention of the dates of the crimes or date of release from prison. There are no mentions of rehabilitative treatment, or statistics on how likely high-risk offenders are to offend again.

As written, Megan's Law is unjust to citizens because, though it warns them of possible danger, it gives them no way to repair the situation. They can't deny housing to a former sex offender or otherwise discriminate against him or her. All they can do is lock their doors.

Finally, the law is unjust to citizens because anyone selling a home in the area will have to disclose its proximity to a sex offender. Buyers will naturally disappear, and property values will decline.

Megan's Law states, "It is illegal to use information obtained through this bulletin to commit a crime against a registered sex offender or to engage in illegal discrimination or harassment ..." This is a legal fiction. The reality is that people will discriminate. High-risk offenders are therefore driven from pillar to post regardless of time served, the passage of years or the extent of treatment received.

Megan's Law itself discriminates against former sex offenders. We are not informed when other types of criminals move into the neighborhood. We are not told about murderers, thieves, con artists and drug dealers, though they also pose potential threats. If justice is served by notifying us about one kind of criminal, why not notify us about all of them?

It's unjust to police because they have to deal with residents' reactions as well as the chance that someone will be assaulted. In the case involving Hector Chavez, police spent hours training residents about security, increased the concentration of foot patrols in the neighborhood and assigned special agents to monitor the complex -- but they can't be here 24 hours a day, and they will be blamed if an attack occurs.

This law is trying to have it both ways: to protect the government from charges of laxity while it dumps the problem on the populace.

As it stands, Megan's Law is flawed. Let's fix it.

Nancy Bernard resides in the complex where high-risk sex offender Hector Chavez also lives.

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