New Megan's Law Guidelines Ordered
January 26, 2000
© The Associated Press
By RALPH SIEGEL

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A federal judge has ordered New Jersey to rework its sexual offender notification law, known as ``Megan's Law,'' and threatened to shut down the notification process if prosecutors can't put tighter controls on who receives the information.

Responding to a class action lawsuit filed by the state Public Defender's Office, U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas said New Jersey had failed to implement consistent standards of how notifications are conducted.

He ordered state Attorney General John Farmer to rewrite the law and issued an order to halt all sex offender notifications, but he agreed to delay its implementation to give Farmer a chance to appeal.

The ruling was handed down late Monday, but newspapers weren't notified until Wednesday because state offices were closed due to snow.

Megan's law, named for a girl raped and killed by a released convict who lived in her neighborhood, instructs prosecutors to notify people when sex offenders classified as a moderate or high risk move into their communities. The law demands carefully written notification plans for each case that map out which people on which blocks would be informed. The plans must be approved by a judge.

The public defenders say too many people outside the law's limits can learn about an offender's past. In one case, the notification was given to a newspaper. In another, a school employee handed out the notification to students.

All 50 states have some type of sexual offender law modeled after the New Jersey law, but many have come under fire.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate Pennsylvania's sexual-predator law, which was thrown out by that state's highest court on the ground that it violated defendants' rights.

AP-NY-01-26-00 2054EST

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