International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking

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International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking
Great Seal of the United States
Full title To protect children from exploitation, especially sex trafficking in tourism, by providing advance notice of intended travel by registered child-sex offenders outside the United States to the government of the country of destination, requesting foreign governments to notify the United States when a known child-sex offender is seeking to enter the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced in 113th United States Congress
Introduced on May 6, 2014
Sponsored by Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R, NJ-4)
Number of Co-Sponsors 2
Effects and Codifications
U.S.C. section(s) affected 42 U.S.C. § 16911, 42 U.S.C. § 16901 et seq., 42 U.S.C. § 16915, 18 U.S.C. § 1801, 22 U.S.C. § 2152d, and others.
Agencies affected U.S. Marshals Service, United States Department of Justice, Interpol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Executive Office of the President, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Congress, United States Department of State, Department of Homeland Security
Legislative history

The International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking (H.R. 4573) was a bill that would require the notification of foreign governments when a citizen of United States registered as a sex offender for sexual offense involving a minor is going to be traveling to their country.[1][2] The bill passed the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress but died in Senate.

The International Megan's Law was reintroduced in 2015 by Rep. Christopher H. Smith as International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders (H.R. 515). In addition to HR 4573, the final version of HR 515 requires a visual "unique identifier" to be placed on the passports of registrants convicted of sex offenses involving a minor. Law would also require covered offenders to notify law enforcement 21 days before traveling abroad.[3] Critics have claimed violation of constitutional rights and note that the law would also cover those who were convicted as minors.[4]

HR 515 passed both chambers of the 114th United States Congress on February 2, 2016[5] and was signed into law by President Obama on February 8, 2016.[6][7]

Background

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Main article: Megan's Law

"Megan's Law" is an informal name for laws in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders, which was created in response to the murder of Megan Kanka.[8] Individual states decide what information will be made available and how it should be disseminated. Commonly included information is the offender's name, picture, address, incarceration date, and nature of crime. The information is often displayed on free public websites, but can be published in newspapers, distributed in pamphlets, or through various other means.

Provisions of the bill

The bill would require that notice be given to other countries when registered American sex offenders travel to their countries.[2] The United States Secretary of State would also be allowed to limit or place restrictions on the travel of convicted sex criminals.[2] Finally, the bill would ask the President of the United States to work out reciprocal deals with other countries so that the United States would be informed when foreign sex criminals tried to travel to the United States.[2]

Procedural history

The International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking was introduced into the United States House of Representatives on May 6, 2014 by Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R, NJ-4).[9] It was referred to the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the United States House Committee on the Judiciary. On May 20, 2014, the House considered the bill under a suspension of the rules and voted to pass the amended version in a voice vote.[9]

Debate and discussion

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), who supported the bill, said about this and other human trafficking bills that were also passed on May 20, 2014, that "no single law will put an end to sex tourism or child sex trafficking, but every step we take strengthens our ability to prevent these crimes."[2]

According to Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX), the bill would enable the United States "to notify destination countries that a sex offender who has previously abused a child is traveling to that country and encourage reciprocal notification to protect American children from abuse by foreign sex workers."[10]

Chrysanthi Leon, associate professor of sociology and criminal justice and women and gender studies at the University of Delaware, argues that registrants are generally not the ones who will commit new sex crimes and that the U.S. Marshals Service already notifies receiving countries of registered sex offender travel. She says that the restrictions imposed by the law might harm family members of registrants who would face much of the same restrictions, and who are also often the victims, since much sex offenses occur within families. She says, the law could, for example, prevent registrants from attending a family member's wedding in another country.[11]

After HR 515 passed the Congress, in February 2016, editorial boards of Los Angeles Times[12] and Monterey Herald,[13] and Lenore Skenazy of Free-range kids urged President Obama to veto the bill.[14] The Volokh Conspiracy likened the "unique identifier" to be placed on sex offenders passports to the letter "J" stamped on passports of Jews in Germany in 1938.[15]

California Reform Sex Offender Laws filed a lawsuit challenging the law in U.S. District Court in San Francisco shortly after HR 515 was signed into a law by President Obama. They say the law will include those convicted of misdemeanors such as “sexting” or public urination to be identified as a sex offender on their passports.[16] The lawsuit says that "a passport symbol that identifies an individual as a registered sex offender could place at significant risk that person as well as others traveling with them, including family members and business colleagues."[17]

See also

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ McLarin, Kimberly J. "Trenton Races To Pass Bills On Sex Abuse", The New York Times, August 20, 1994. Accessed June 8, 2010.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Government.

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