Definition of Megan's Law
US
: a law that requires law enforcement authorities to make available to the public information about convicted sex offenders living in the area
- All of Englewood is now aware that the sex offender lives there. This awareness is a result of a group of statutes collectively known as Megan's Law, which was hastily passed in 1994 after a 7-year-old New Jersey girl named Megan Kanka was kidnapped, raped and murdered, allegedly by a twice-convicted sex offender.
- —Peter Davis, New York Times Magazine, 28 July 1996
- The State of Alaska enacted the Alaska Sex Offender Registration Act … on May 12, 1994 … . Like its counterparts in other States, the Act is termed a “Megan’s Law.”
- —Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84, (2003)
