Washington's Megan's Law Upheld -- Notice Of Sex Offenders Allowed

SAN FRANCISCO - The federal appeals court for nine Western states yesterday upheld Washington state's version of Megan's Law, saying paroled sex offenders suffer no additional punishment when the public is told of their whereabouts.

"The law is tailored to help the community protect itself from sex predators under the guidance of law enforcement, not to punish sex offenders," said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 3-0 ruling.

Public notification "may have a lasting and painful impact on a sex offender's life," including "humiliation, public opprobrium, ostracism, and the loss of job opportunities," the court said. But it said other regulatory laws have harsh effects - such as the loss of professional licenses or government benefits, or deportation - and have not been found to be punitive.

In recent weeks, other federal appeals courts have upheld similar laws in New Jersey and New York.

Such laws, named for a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a sex offender living across the street, have been passed by most states, influenced by a federal law that requires such measures as a condition of certain federal funding.

Yesterday's ruling will affect challenges to any such laws in the other eight states covered by the 9th Circuit: California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. The ruling does not necessarily mean that measures that differ from Washington's law will be upheld.

The Washington law, passed in 1990, requires paroled felony sex criminals to register with local police agencies. Before parole, a state committee puts each offender in one of three classifications. No public notification is given for the least serious; in the second category, police agencies, local schools and neighborhood "block watch" captains are given the offender's name, picture, and history, but not the exact address or employment information.

For the most serious offenders, the same information is also given to local news media.

Todd Maybrown, lawyer for the two parolees who challenged the law, did not immediately return a phone call yesterday.

The parolees, one convicted of rape, the other of attempted rape, were both classified in the third category, with maximum public notification. They argued that the law imposed additional punishment for their past crimes, in violation of the constitutional ban on retroactive punishment.

But the appeals court cited a 1994 Washington Supreme Court decision saying authorities could release only information that was necessary to counteract an ex-offender's dangerousness. The court also noted the 1990 Legislature's statement that sex offenders pose a high risk of committing future crimes.