News has emerged that a law allowing the physical castration of child sex offenders is set to be implemented in the state of Louisiana.
According to Yonhap News, the Associated Press reported that the Louisiana State Legislature passed a bill on June 3 that allows judges to order physical castration through surgical procedures in addition to imprisonment for such offenders.
Specifically, the law targets individuals who have been convicted of committing sexual assault and molestation crimes against children under the age of 13.
Several states in the U.S., including Louisiana, California, Florida, and Texas, already have a system of chemical castration, where drugs are administered to reduce the sexual urges of sex offenders.
However, the AP reported that this is the first time a law allowing physical castration has been passed in the United States.
The National Conference of State Legislatures stated that no other states currently implement such a law.
The Louisiana State Legislature is dominated by the Republican Party in both the upper and lower houses, and the state governor, Jeff Landry, is also a Republican.
If Landry signs the bill that passed the legislature, the law will be implemented from August 1.
Currently, there are 2,224 individuals incarcerated in Louisiana who have been convicted of sex crimes against children under the age of 13. However, the punishment will not be retroactively applied to these individuals.
The lawmaker who proposed this bill is a Democrat, but the majority of the opposing votes were cast by Democratic legislators.
Regina Barrow, the senator who proposed the bill, emphasized in a committee that reviewed the bill in April, “We are talking about children who are being victimized by someone,” and “That is unforgivable.”
Barrow explained that while physical castration is often associated with men, it can also be applied to women.
She added that this punishment is not automatically imposed on all offenders, but will be decided at the discretion of the judge in each case.
If a judge orders castration surgery and the offender refuses, they can receive an additional 3 to 5 years of imprisonment on charges of non-compliance.
Some members of the Louisiana State Legislature criticized the law as excessively cruel punishment.
There were also questions raised about whether the punishment is too harsh for individuals who have committed a crime only once.
However, Barrow rebutted, “When you think about the child (victim), is there ever too many times?”
Most Commented