So now what?

STUDY FINDS MEGAN'S LAW DOES NOT STOP RECIDIVISM
A federally funded study finds that New Jersey's sex-offender registration and community notification law is ineffective in deterring repeat offenses and may help cause them, since stigmatizing and ostracizing convicting sex offenders creates stress that may impel new crimes. The study, “Megan’s Law: Assessing the Practical and Monetary Efficacy,” by the state Department of Corrections’ Research and Evaluation Unit and Rutgers University School of Criminal Law, says that while recidivism rates have dropped from 50 percent to 41 percent since the law's 1994 enactment, the law has had no significant effect on the overall number of victims involved in sexual offenses, the length of time before a sex offender's first rearrest or the type of first-time offense or re-offense. Meanwhile, the system's annual costs have risen from an initial $550,000 to an estimated $3.97 million.