Federal Judge Orders Freeze on N.J. Sex Offender Notifications

A federal appeals court has ordered a freeze on sex offender notifications in New Jersey until it has time to review the fairness of procedures being used by officials who issue the warnings.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas last week ruled that the state’s Megan’s Law guidelines, as revised by state Atty. Gen. John Farmer, provided a reasonable system for warning neighbors about sex offenders while making sure the privileged information was not leaked to the community at large.

But the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia issued an order Tuesday saying it wants to review these facts for itself.

Federal Appellate Judge Dolores Sloviter ordered Megan’s Law notifications frozen in the meantime--a step Irenas never took, even after demanding that the guidelines be improved.

The New Jersey Public Defenders office, which represents sex offenders, hailed the order because in their view the current system for notifications does not prevent leaks.

The appeals court, in a ruling last year written by Sloviter, said Megan’s Law was all right provided that reasonable steps are taken to make sure information about sex offenders was given only to neighbors who were authorized to receive it.

Megan’s Law is named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old Hamilton Township girl who was raped and murdered in July 1994 by a convicted sex offender who lived across the street from her Mercer County home.

Under the law, sex offenders who are released from prison or who move into New Jersey are required to register their address, and officials seek to conduct limited notifications to neighbors or area schools according to their assessment of the risk that the offender might pose to others.