MovieChat Forums > The Woodsman (2005) Discussion > I disapprove of Megan's law, here is why...

I disapprove of Megan's law, here is why:

posted 10 years ago by creatorof2002
18 replies | jump to latest

I will use an analogy to make my point: If you were ordering a hamburger and your 2 choices were burned to a cinder or nearly raw you would reject both choices. One is not cooking it enough the other is cooking it too much but neither is just right.

Well Megan's Law is the same way. It is simple logic: There are 2 possibilities only.

Possibility #1. The person IS likely to reoffend. In this reality he should not be out of prison (or a mental hospital) in the first place and as a society we need to change laws to allow for that. The notifications are not really enough to keep children safe, they are more of a "feel good" measure. As far as I am concerned if a person is a danger to society (especially children) you do NOT let them out of a secure lockup into the neighborhood. Its like a zoo letting a tiger out but warning people about it.

Possibility #2: The person really is rehabilitated and will not reoffend. In this scenario there is no need to notify the community and doing so will likely lead to the offender being harassed and socially ostracized. Whether or not you think he (or sometimes she) deserves it from a legal standpoint they have served their sentence and it would functionally be extra punishment which is unconstitutional.

Instead of Megan's law we should just keep anyone considered a danger locked up and if they really are rehabilitated then they are as free to go as a convicted bank robber and no Megan's law restrictions.

[–] Narcissist00 9 years ago

How can you sympathise with a paedophile? Do you have children? If it was my daughter then I'd let him serve his sentence, kidnap him, take him to a remote place, torture him (enjoying every second) and then make sure he's somewhere nowhere will find him and let the *beep* scum die in agony. I'd sleep very well with the thought of him in agony!!

[–] donitononaire 9 years ago

Your view of "constitutionality" couldn't be more wrong.

Anybody can find out whether or not someone is a pedo with a few clicks on the computer.

All Megan's Law does is require them to register their new address, and rather than taking three clicks to discover, it only takes one.

If society reacts with disgusts, and chooses to punish that person for a crime they have already served the time for, well, too bad. Society can implement their own punishments - as long as the state is not the one implementing the social punishment...

I do agree that some changes need to be made to the law.

I think rather than beng allowed to just live in any neighborhood and register the address, tehy should have to live in halfway type houses, where everybody just knows "that's where pedos live." But they can still go out in the world and work a regular job without it being known. But at the same time, they have monitoring devices on, and must report back to the house every night.

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

2 Narcissist00 - what if it was a woman like in the movie "Notes on a Scandal" (2006)?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] TonyStinkmetal 8 years ago

I'm guessing you're a christian narcissist.
see you in hell.

[–] ThoseLittleRabbits 9 years ago

it was unconstitutional to violate a child. that child suffers scars for the rest of their life. the pedophile should suffer a life sentence as well. don't ever have children if you would send them to a teacher who raped a kid, but ''won't ever do it again''.

i've got feelings too, ya know - inbetweeners

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

The thing is - I have heard that there have been many unfair and negative associations with this type of law also known as the sex offender registries. One example included - a child that was caught urinating in public got put into it.

I mean no offense, but what kind of "justice" is this? How can you put a person for public urination, especially a child, on the same level as a violent (and usually an adult) sex offender?

What does this say about humanity, laws and the ways they are implemented and where humanity sometimes ENDS UP going whilst INTENDING to go into a more civilized direction? What does this also say about how people including those in official authority positions THINK?

Does it also make one think that good and evil are not totally absolute but can be relative at times as well? Even in THIS day and age? (Hundreds of years ago, even when we had laws and whatnot, we seemed much more prone to violence, torture and conflict than to peaceful living and although not maybe even by too much, in recent times compared to 500 years ago we have shown some improvement.)

And then we find out that in history, there have been times (Ancient Greece, maybe even Rome to an extent) where pedophilia was not only not demonized but ACCEPTABLE both by "law" and "general public" society. Were people at that time just highly inexperienced to know better?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] bomblade 8 years ago

The people who are registered sex offenders are not all pedophiles by the way.18-20 year olds are on there for having sex with their hs gfm A 17 year old girl that takes a nude picture can be put on there for producing child pornography. An 8 year old pantsed some kid as a joke, sent to juve, is an adult and a life time offender. There are many ways to be put on there. Oh, and then there's the corrupt justice system where a mere allegation without any evidence can send you to prison and put you on the registry.

Still fair and just to harass and torture anyone on the registry? Of course simple minded, ignorant people will say yes.

The guy/girl who claims he'd torture the offender, enjoy every minute of it...no you wouldn't. If you would, why haven't you? Why isn't this happening more considering I've heard hundreds make the same threat? No, you'd be like anyone else and call names, maybe vandize their home when no ones around.

Here's the bottom line: Megan's Law is unconstitutional. Its a life sentence and its there to scare the public, not to protect them. Why aren't drug manufacturers on a lifetime registry? They hurt more children and are far worse for society as a whole. Do thieves not reoffend at a much higher rate than any type of sex offender? Yes. Same with domestic abusers. Why isn't the public warned about them?

Because "would someone please think of the children. "

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

2 bomblade - based on what you said, if such laws are clearly more damaging than they are "important" and "necessary", why and how do they even get implemented in the society by seemingly people of both higher morals and higher intelligence?

What exactly is it that makes such laws unable to work and function correctly?

Also - with regards to the so-called "ignorant" people in "society" -

Are they ignorant seemingly by choice or do they just not know better? Aren't most people equipped with knowledge of morality since birth? (Well, OK, I know maybe they are not but still...)

Or would most people here and there say that a lot of these things do NOT have clear answers. Correct?

Basically, morality isn't natural either, it is man-made, correct?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

Also, in many of the rape and revenge films, some of them also including rape of the underage plus murder but sometimes just this and just that, we often cheer for someone who viciously and violently takes vengeance as such upon the perpetrators, but it seems that a movie like this ALSO does NOT value such options for other reasons and often invites us to think again.

But if we allowed in REAL life for people to exact violent revenge on others, whether for these deeds or other bad deeds, would that REALLY make the world a better place or not?

Even with many statistics and whatnot that suggest indeed that such crimes and bad deeds happen in the world on a daily basis in large amounts and that justice by law is unable to sort it all out.

Then there could be MAYBE other sides to it - what if someone has decided to FORGIVE those that wronged them and think such perpetrators do NOT deserve to be punished let alone suffer the revenge via killings or other torturous methods? Who IS right and who IS wrong here?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

When will laws ever be PERFECT?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

Should we also have a Megan's law for other, albeit non-sexual, criminal offenses or are sexual offenses really so much worse than other physical crimes as well as murder?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] franzkabuki 8 years ago

"Are sexual offences really so much worse than other physical crimes as well as murder?"

I suppose it could be argued that most murderers are not compelled to kill by their nature while pedophiles will always be battling their urges, which makes them a greater liability. But I agree with the OP - it seems kind of pointless to even release the sex offenders from prison when they're only going to encounter a society that will harass and persecute them as long as they live.

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

Or even release them from prison if there's a strong belief that they will re-offend.

By the way, how come before in history such Megan's Law didn't exist and why is it arguably only existant in America?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] Narcissist00 7 years ago

Because it hasn't happened to my daughter. Trust me if it did I 100 percent would!!

[–] Zombie55 7 years ago

2 Narcissist - I am sure there are plenty of people who hadn't experienced events as these on their own skin who would STILL beg for such laws to be implemented and for them to exist in that way, because they can extend empathy to others too, and plus, if it can happen to them, couldn't it just as well happen to us?

Another thing is - shall we extend similar laws to OTHER matters that may involve violence and mistreatment and whatnot, including killings, but not sexual misdeeds?

In other words - stamp out ALL evil and injustice just like that?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] andyofne-75813 7 years ago

You analogy is not apt.

[–] Zombie55 7 years ago

What about if it was an act of both that AND murder COMBINED, like, yes in some films we've seen from "The Virgin Spring" (1960) to "7 Days" (2010) etc and which also happened in life, would you approve of Megan's law like that which seems to exist for sexual offenses only?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!