us, Pallone contends that the State of New Jersey, at that time, was legally obligated to release him after the negotiated 10 years, despite the belief of the institution staff and superintendents, the "dangerousness review board" mandated by the legislature to assess inmates' readiness for release on parole, the Commissioner of Corrections, and the state parole board that Timmendequas would likely re-offend if released. Pallone himself reviewed all the official records related to Timmendequas' criminal history and concluded, without reservation, that the particulars of Timmendequas' offense would have warranted the whole potential 30-year sentence.
After Kanka's death, the State of New Jersey passed the first package of bills aimed specifically at regulating the conduct of sex offenders after their release from prison. As Pallone notes, the public furor over Kanka's death, combined with the dubious political power of sex offenders as a group, allowed Megan's Law to be passed with virtually no public discussion or hearings. In essence, the law required that any person "who has been convicted, adjudicated delinquent or found not guilty by reason of insanity for commission of a sex offense" must register him- or herself with local authorities when he or she moves into or takes employment in a community. The failure to register is a misdemeanor criminal offense.
Since the passage of New Jersey's law, each of the remaining 49 states and the federal government has passed similar legislation. As with the New Jersey law, most of these states impose some requirement of registration, community notification, and/or post-sentence "involuntary civil commitment" of all sex-offenders released from jail or prison. For example, the Jimmy Ryce Act, passed in Florida, requires the post-sentence involuntary commitment of sexual offenders. In addition, the federal Jacob Wetterling Act encourages states to "implement a system where a...