Controversial Bill! Surgical Castration as Punishment for Sex Crimes in Louisiana

In Louisiana, a person convicted of a sex crime against a child may soon be sentenced to undergo surgical castration in addition to a prison term.

Louisiana senators approved a bill on Monday that allows courts to sentence individuals to surgical castration for serious sex offenses against children under 13. These crimes include rape, incest, and molestation. “This is a consequence,” Republican state Senator Valarie Hodges stated at an April committee hearing on the bill. “It’s a step over and beyond just going to jail and getting out.”

Both chambers, which are dominated by Republicans, overwhelmingly approved the law. Democrats overwhelmingly voted against the bill, despite the fact that it was proposed by a Democratic politician.

The proposal now travels to conservative Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk, where he will decide whether to sign it or veto it. Louisiana currently has 2,224 persons in prison for sex crimes against children under the age of 13. If the bill becomes law, it will only apply to people who committed a crime on or after August 1 of this year.

The measure states that criminals who fail to attend or refuse to undergo surgical castration as ordered by a judge may face a “failure to comply” penalty, which carries an additional three to five years in jail.

The proposed regulation also requires a consultation with a medical specialist to determine whether the offender is appropriate for the procedure before it is performed. Currently, chemical castration is legal in California, Florida, and Texas, with certain states even offering offenders the option of a surgical operation.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are no current statutes that allow judges to inflict surgical castration directly, as suggested in Louisiana’s measure.

Louisiana’s current chemical castration legislation has been in effect since 2008, but it has rarely been used as punishment, with authorities recalling only one or two incidents between 2010 and 2019.

There has been opposition to such measures, particularly chemical castration initiatives, with critics calling them “cruel and unusual punishment”. There have also been doubts about the process’s efficacy.

Some Louisiana politicians have also questioned whether the penalty is unduly harsh for single-offense persons. “For me, when I think about a child, one time is too many,” Barrow responded.