CYP Now - Editorial - Megan's Law is good publicity not protection

You know the Government is bereft of vision in a particular area of policy when it starts to talk about "bringing in a law from America". The latest version of this is the so-called Megan's Law, which would require details of child sex offenders to be made available to parents in the neighbourhoods where they live after they are released from prison.

Introducing such a law, as the latest Home Secretary John Reid appearsto want to do, would be against the advice of nearly everybody involvedin law enforcement and the management of offenders. The evidence showsthat publicly identifying sex offenders in such a way tends to drivethem underground out of fear of vigilante attack, making monitoring andtreatment impossible and increasing the risk of them reoffending.

Still, it would allow the Home Secretary to appear to be doing somethingabout an issue the public is worried about, while distracting attentionfrom the real problems in the Home Office that led to the resignation ofthe last Home Secretary.

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's Included