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.

  • @dohpaz42English
    28•6 months ago

    I am all for finding better ways to tackle sexual assault of any kind. But this is simply too far. As others I. This thread have pointed out: it’s cruel and unusual punishment, and doesn’t address the root of what drives sexual predators.

    I’d like to add a new element to the conversation: wrongful convictions. Everyone already knows that going to jail as a child molester is probably going to end up very badly for them. So I could see people choosing castration as the lesser of two evils.

    The National Registry of Exonerations found that Texas, despite having some of the toughest laws on crime, led the nation with 363 exonerations in the last 30 years. Other top states based on total numbers of exonerations were Illinois, New York, and California. In Louisiana, which had 63 exonerations in that period, New Orleans is said to be the wrongful conviction capital of the U.S.

    (Emphasis mine)

    https://www.nealdavislaw.com/criminal-defense-guides/exonerations-by-state-2019/