Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Louisiana judge Surgical castration The bill approved Monday would impose the death penalty on anyone convicted of sex crimes against young children, making the state apparently the first to do so if Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signs the bill into law.
The Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill giving judges the option to sentence people to surgical castration if they are convicted of certain aggravated sex crimes, including rape, incest and sexual abuse of a child under the age of 13.
In some states, AlabamaNew York, California, Florida and Texas have laws allowing chemical castration, and some of those states allow offenders to opt out of the surgery if they choose, but the National Conference of State Legislatures said it is not aware of any states that allow judges to order surgical castration.
For more than 16 years, Louisiana judges have been allowed to order chemical castration for those convicted of such crimes, but such punishment is rarely imposed. Chemical castration involves the use of drugs that block testosterone production and reduce libido. Surgical castration is a much more invasive procedure.
“These are consequences,” Republican state Sen. Valerie Hodges said during a committee hearing on the bill in April. “They go beyond just going to jail and getting out.”
The bill had overwhelming support in both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress, with mostly Democrats voting against it, but was authored by state Sen. Regina Barrow, a Democrat.
Currently, there are 2,224 people incarcerated in Louisiana for sex crimes against children under the age of 13. If the bill becomes law, it would only apply to those convicted of crimes that occurred after Aug. 1 of this year.
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Barrow said this would be yet another round of tougher penalties for a horrific crime and he hopes the legislation will act as a deterrent.
“We’re talking about a baby being assaulted by someone,” Barrow said at the committee meeting in April. “This is something that cannot be tolerated.”
Although castration is often associated with men, Barrow said the law could apply to women as well, and stressed that penalties are at the discretion of judges on a case-by-case basis – they are not automatic.
According to the bill’s language, if an offender “fails to appear in court or refuses to undergo the procedure” after a judge orders a castration, they could be charged with “insubordination,” which carries an additional three to five years in prison.
The law also states that before surgery takes place, a medical professional must “determine whether the offender is an appropriate candidate for the procedure.”
Louisiana’s current chemical castration law has been in place since 2008, but officials say they found only one or two cases of chemical castration occurring between 2010 and 2019.
The bill and the chemical castration bill have received backlash, with opponents calling it “cruel and unusual punishment” and questioning the effectiveness of the procedure. Additionally, some Louisiana lawmakers have questioned whether the punishment is too harsh for someone who has only committed a one-time crime.
“For me, when it comes to my children, once is too many,” Barrow responded.
“Where do we draw the line?”
Late last month, Voice of the Experience’s Bruce Riley told CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV that Louisiana already has too many atrocities, saying, “This is what is happening, where no one should be mutilating a human body.”
He added: “From now on, punishment will include orchiectomy…. Where do we draw the line?”
“I think there are 10 other people who may have deserved this punishment who were not found guilty,” he said, noting that Louisiana has one of the highest rates of wrongful convictions in the nation and that he is concerned about what will happen to people who are actually innocent.
