Megan's Law coming to the UK?
Egged on by the tabloid that championed it, new Home Secretary John Reid is considering bringing Megan's Law to the UK, which in the UK is being campaigned under the sobriquent of "Sarah's Law" after a murder in the UK that has similarities to the murder of Megan Kanka. This is despite plenty of evidence that suggests that Megan's Law has been ineffecitive and counter-productive since being introduced in the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganâs_Law http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5093804.stm http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28009-2235061,00.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1803086,00.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wpaed25.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/25/ixnews.html
The News of the World, just about the lowest of the bottom feeders in Britains infamous guttersnipe press looks like they might have met their perfect match in Reid, the man Jeremy Paxman affectionately refers to as "Attack Dog" and who seems to share a love for the "flog em and hang em high" initiatives of one of his recent precedessors David Blunkett, attracting heavy criticism from his immediate predecessor Charles Clarke. There is little mystery as to why the News of the World and its ilk are supporting the Home Secretary over Megan's Law, having a public register of known sex offenders that it's journalists has access to 24/7 means it has a guaranteed headline story on any slow news day from the "so and so has recently moved to x, with y knowing nothing about it" stable of stories. Promoting this initiative is about sensationalism and selling newspapers through fear, and this would be the gift that just keeps on giving for the News of the World.
This current government under Blair has become deathly afraid of offending the sensibilities of the tabloids in issues over immigration and law and order, it is no surprise that Reid, one of Blairs staunchest remaining allies is peddling this idea for all of its worth. Like Blunkett before him (another of Blairs staunchest allies before two turgid scandals got rid of him from the front bench for good) Reid's remit is to shore up Labour's right flank from being savaged by the Melanie Philips of this world (she was toothless against Blunkett, more effective against Clarke) by ignoring common sense or good policy in favour of appearing tough on crime at all times as part of Blairs vacuous "Respect" agenda. Like the flurry of unnecessary attacks on civil liberties we saw before the last election that were designed to appease first the tabloids and then Muslim voters (in a grab-bag of contradictory policies), I think we can expect to see a lot more "policy by tabloid" initiatives in the coming months of Reid's term.
Moving onto the merits of Megan's Law itself, I think that it is a problematic law, especially for the UK which has such a sensationalist press. The telling statistic against Megan's Law is that it has been ineffective in the US, with no indication that Megan's Law has reduced assaults against children or the rate of reoffending. This is primarily because most children are not attacked by strangers but by people they know, most crimes of this nature goes unreported and this probably has been made worse with children not wishing to "have the world know what daddy did to me". This is followed up by a drop in the number of sex offenders in the US going on the register but instead supplying false addresses because of fear of the consequences of being on the register. As the Times article mentions, in Oregan it is required that offenders put a little sign in their windows, leading to a house being burned down and a pet being beheaded. In the UK 97% of sexual offenders are on the register, that number would be in jeopardy if Megan's Law came to pass. There is also the concern over the length of time someone is on the register, people on the register for minor offences when they were young and silly should be able to pay their debt to society and then get on with life without being hounded for the rest of their life (for once the press get hold of their name or their register is readily avaiable via the internet meaning the connection to the register is forever only a google away it will never disappear).
There is also a concern over vigilantism, one vigilante named Stephen Marshall murdered two offenders on the registry in Maine after accessing their home addressed via the internet. Such acts are a rarety but they do occur and would certainly occur in the UK at some point if the law is introduced.
The best approach and use of the register is a varient on the current policy where schools, nurseries and other vulnurable institutions can access the register under strict privacy laws to vet prospective employees, parent volunteers for school camps and outings and individuals that have otherwise aroused suspicion or concern. At the same the authorities should continue to alert the relevant individuals and institutions when someone on the register with relevant sexual convictions moves into their area, again with the appropriate privacy and discretion laws in place. This policy best juggles the very important concerns over safety with that of individual privacy and fear of persecution. Crime is one of those large, complicated policy areas like immigration, health, welfare etc, where sensationalist initiatives more often than not produce a cure at least as the bad as the disease and where in the end, effective policy is more often than not is going to be a trade off, a balancing act between competing concerns and priorities and an eye for the longer term and the bigger picture. I don't think that Megan's law fits that bill and I am concerned that it is going to be the start of a raft of similar proposals that do more harm than good.
Watch this space I suppose.
P.S. As an aside I was amused by the American advocate for Megan's Law that appeared on Andrew Marr's Sunday morning current affairs programme. Dressed in a loud suit he was a real-life cliche of Aaron Eckhart's character in "Thank you for smoking" down to wearing a 'Megan badge' the size of a small melon on his suit and for pulling out a dubious single factor statistic from the US Justice Department again and again, uttering the words "US Justice Department" as if he was mentioning the holiest of holy's, which for an American audience perhaps it is. Beware anybody that claims that sexual crimes have lowered over a period of sixteen years and then ascribes it to a single initiative, not only is that a favourite lobbying and lawyer tactic, but more often than not the link between the single factor and the statistic turns out to be bunkum. It was telling that though the federal version of Megan's Law was introduced in 1996 the advocate chose to go back to 1990 as his time period of comparision.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganâs_Law http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5093804.stm http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28009-2235061,00.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1803086,00.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wpaed25.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/25/ixnews.html
The News of the World, just about the lowest of the bottom feeders in Britains infamous guttersnipe press looks like they might have met their perfect match in Reid, the man Jeremy Paxman affectionately refers to as "Attack Dog" and who seems to share a love for the "flog em and hang em high" initiatives of one of his recent precedessors David Blunkett, attracting heavy criticism from his immediate predecessor Charles Clarke. There is little mystery as to why the News of the World and its ilk are supporting the Home Secretary over Megan's Law, having a public register of known sex offenders that it's journalists has access to 24/7 means it has a guaranteed headline story on any slow news day from the "so and so has recently moved to x, with y knowing nothing about it" stable of stories. Promoting this initiative is about sensationalism and selling newspapers through fear, and this would be the gift that just keeps on giving for the News of the World.
This current government under Blair has become deathly afraid of offending the sensibilities of the tabloids in issues over immigration and law and order, it is no surprise that Reid, one of Blairs staunchest remaining allies is peddling this idea for all of its worth. Like Blunkett before him (another of Blairs staunchest allies before two turgid scandals got rid of him from the front bench for good) Reid's remit is to shore up Labour's right flank from being savaged by the Melanie Philips of this world (she was toothless against Blunkett, more effective against Clarke) by ignoring common sense or good policy in favour of appearing tough on crime at all times as part of Blairs vacuous "Respect" agenda. Like the flurry of unnecessary attacks on civil liberties we saw before the last election that were designed to appease first the tabloids and then Muslim voters (in a grab-bag of contradictory policies), I think we can expect to see a lot more "policy by tabloid" initiatives in the coming months of Reid's term.
Moving onto the merits of Megan's Law itself, I think that it is a problematic law, especially for the UK which has such a sensationalist press. The telling statistic against Megan's Law is that it has been ineffective in the US, with no indication that Megan's Law has reduced assaults against children or the rate of reoffending. This is primarily because most children are not attacked by strangers but by people they know, most crimes of this nature goes unreported and this probably has been made worse with children not wishing to "have the world know what daddy did to me". This is followed up by a drop in the number of sex offenders in the US going on the register but instead supplying false addresses because of fear of the consequences of being on the register. As the Times article mentions, in Oregan it is required that offenders put a little sign in their windows, leading to a house being burned down and a pet being beheaded. In the UK 97% of sexual offenders are on the register, that number would be in jeopardy if Megan's Law came to pass. There is also the concern over the length of time someone is on the register, people on the register for minor offences when they were young and silly should be able to pay their debt to society and then get on with life without being hounded for the rest of their life (for once the press get hold of their name or their register is readily avaiable via the internet meaning the connection to the register is forever only a google away it will never disappear).
There is also a concern over vigilantism, one vigilante named Stephen Marshall murdered two offenders on the registry in Maine after accessing their home addressed via the internet. Such acts are a rarety but they do occur and would certainly occur in the UK at some point if the law is introduced.
The best approach and use of the register is a varient on the current policy where schools, nurseries and other vulnurable institutions can access the register under strict privacy laws to vet prospective employees, parent volunteers for school camps and outings and individuals that have otherwise aroused suspicion or concern. At the same the authorities should continue to alert the relevant individuals and institutions when someone on the register with relevant sexual convictions moves into their area, again with the appropriate privacy and discretion laws in place. This policy best juggles the very important concerns over safety with that of individual privacy and fear of persecution. Crime is one of those large, complicated policy areas like immigration, health, welfare etc, where sensationalist initiatives more often than not produce a cure at least as the bad as the disease and where in the end, effective policy is more often than not is going to be a trade off, a balancing act between competing concerns and priorities and an eye for the longer term and the bigger picture. I don't think that Megan's law fits that bill and I am concerned that it is going to be the start of a raft of similar proposals that do more harm than good.
Watch this space I suppose.
P.S. As an aside I was amused by the American advocate for Megan's Law that appeared on Andrew Marr's Sunday morning current affairs programme. Dressed in a loud suit he was a real-life cliche of Aaron Eckhart's character in "Thank you for smoking" down to wearing a 'Megan badge' the size of a small melon on his suit and for pulling out a dubious single factor statistic from the US Justice Department again and again, uttering the words "US Justice Department" as if he was mentioning the holiest of holy's, which for an American audience perhaps it is. Beware anybody that claims that sexual crimes have lowered over a period of sixteen years and then ascribes it to a single initiative, not only is that a favourite lobbying and lawyer tactic, but more often than not the link between the single factor and the statistic turns out to be bunkum. It was telling that though the federal version of Megan's Law was introduced in 1996 the advocate chose to go back to 1990 as his time period of comparision.
posted by Anthony Burn at 12:26 pm
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