Louisiana judges can now sentence certain sex offenders to surgical castration, after Gov. Jeff Landry on Tuesday signed a bill into law that creates that penalty.
Offenders who receive such a sentence may refuse the procedure, in which case they would face an additional three to five years in prison.
Senate Bill 371 by Senate President Pro Tempore Regina Barrow, a Baton Rouge Democrat, received bipartisan support in the Legislature.
As Landry signed SB 371 in a ceremony at the Louisiana State Capitol, he sat beside Barrow and state Rep. Delisha Boyd, D-New Orleans.
“This is a method for us to protect our children,” said Boyd, who proposed a bill this year that would have established vasectomies as a form of punishment for sex offenders. House Bill 166 passed the House but then stalled in a Senate committee, failing to make it to Landry’s desk.
Oh they’ll still be able to scratch it. Plenty of kids who were sexually assaulted as children can tell you that the person who assaulted them was not using their genitals in any way at the time. It’s not actually about sex, it’s about power. That’s why this will be a complete failure.
The message I was trying to convey, put more concisely.