Megan’s Law requirements can be appealed

On behalf of Maynard Law Office, LLC posted in Megan’s Law on Friday, December 19, 2014.

Once the law in New Jersey and elsewhere was, “Do the crime, do the time,” meaning that convicts had to pay with years of their lives spent behind bars. But after successfully completing their sentences and any parole requirements, they were free to resume their lives in society.

However, after the passage of Megan’s Law, this changed. Now, no matter how much time was served or how much rehabilitation convicts have displayed, the requirements for Community Supervision for Life and/or Parole Supervision for Life can create an onerous burden on those who have turned their lives around and not re-offended.

Ex-convicts subject to the stringent requirements of Megan’s Law can have incredible difficulty simply securing employment and housing. Information gathered from the offenders includes the following:

— Name

— Photograph

— Age

— Birthdate

— Sex

— Race

— Physical description, including height, weight, hair and eye color

— Social security number

— Address of legal residence

— Address of any temporary residences

— Place of employment

— Date and location of each conviction, acquittal by reason of insanity and adjudication

— Fingerprints

— Indictment number

— Description of the crime(s) requiring registration

— Other information deemed necessary by state Attorney General to assess risk of recidivism, including evidentiary genetic markers when available

Our firm can help ex-convicts terminate some of these requirements if the following conditions are met:

— Person has been on the sex offender registry for 15 years

— There have been no subsequent convictions

— Person is not a threat to the community

Contact our office to learn if you qualify for an appeal on these grounds.