Louisiana Gov. Jindal Authorizes Chemical Castration Of Sex Offenders

Rising Republican star Bobby Jindal signed legislation allowing judges to force convicted rapists to undergo chemical castration, the Louisiana Advocate reports:

"I am glad we have taken such strong measures in Louisiana to put a stop to these monsters' brutal acts," the governor said in a prepared statement.

Jindal signed Senate Bill 144 into law on the day that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Louisiana cannot execute people who rape children under the age of 12.

The governor blasted the high court's decision.

"I am especially glad to sign (SB144) into Louisiana law ... on the same day the Supreme Court has made an atrocious ruling against our state's ability to sentence those who sexually assault our children to the fullest extent," he said.

Jindal, the country's youngest governor and the first with Indian roots, is often cited as a potential Vice Presidental nominee for McCain. He has spoken out in defense of intelligent design and written about his participation in an exorcism.

Comments

[JRandomPoster]

So - let me get this right. Condoms are bad, but castration for sex offenders is good.

[proudloudlib]

Well, when you put it that way....

[wayoutleft]

i challenge you to upload the headshot of this guy as big as the pix of the starlet from allure over there in "healthy living" or whatever section.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

How about forced OD's on Viagra until priapism sets in.

Got poetic justice?

[Felicty]

What a stupid little puppet this deluded little brown man is.

After you "help" the Republicans, they will chemically castrate YOU.

[ebanks84]

There was no need to bring his "color" into the conversation unless you were trying to make another point, which is........­..........­..........­........

[Felicty]

Read above.

[paganmist]

I think the insinuation is that Republicans don't really care for people of color, except in positions of pawnship.

[Felicty]

Bless your excruciating politically correct heart...

[politricking]

deriding nader for his dumb comments on race and here you are labeling jindal a little brown man, the irony.

jindal is a nut, no need to call him a little brown man though.

[Felicty]

Should I lie and call him WHITE just to please you, then?

Republicans eventually HATE ALL people of color. Give them time.

[Felicty]

On second thought, perhaps that would be a good idea!

[ebanks84]

I think you have a problem which has nothing to do with castration.

[mandalaina]

I'm voting democrat, and gladly so, but this makes sense in a way. While it isn't always about the sex with sexual predators (the need to feel powerful, in control, and other issues are as strong), without their weapons (so to speak) there is that much less in their arsenal. But don't misunderst­and--these monsters will remain dangerous, and in need of seclusion from society. If this isn't a permanent solution, in the end, how effective is it really?

In the deepest, darkest hidden part of me, I wished they would have passed the death penalty for severe, repeat child rapists, but then I realize that even that type of heinous crime has got to have appropriate response, if we are to live in a balanced society. Rather than the death penalty, I suggest turning such people over into a crowded room full of very inventive and interested sadists to be their "fun toy" for the foreseeable future.

[RaraAvis17]

Hey if you can't kill them you might as well castrate them. I am all for it.

[tda]

Cruel and inhumane treatment is the first thoughts that come to mind, regardless of the crime against society committed. Also, I believe our Constitution will not allow for such punishment.

[ebanks84]

I don't think our constitution delves into types of punishment I'm afraid.

[JadedAggie]

Constitution explicitly protects against cruel and unusual punishment.

[nerakami]

"Cruel and inhumane".­..

Let me inform you that there is nothing more cruel and inhumane than anyone who has been sexually molested, especially a child. It is a deep, dark and most times permanent terror against the human spirit and psyche...

if we had proven successful psychological treatment for these criminals fine, but we do not and all too often they are released to continue destroying the lives of innocent victims. Until we have evolved to successfully treat them, take away their capability to harm others...

it is the victim that suffers greatly here, and unless you have experienced the hell, you can never know...

[MoeB]

Look, NO ONE is saying that raping a child is good! We can ALL agree that rape is horrible and should be punished. It is HOW we punish that many people disagree on, not that raping a child is cruel and inhumane. But that doesn't mean that how we respond to it should also be cruel and inhumane.

And it seems that many people's problems here arise from these people being released. Well here's a solution: keep them in prison or under strict psychiatric care, or both! Killing and castration are not the only viable options we have.

[littlepuffycloud]

Anyone ever molested by a pedophile would be glad to see the animal castrated; either chemically or surgically. They can not be rehabilitated, so either keep them in jail, or on an island somewhere or castrate them. I have no sympathy for any of them at all.

[ebanks84]

And millions will agree with you totally. But castration might cure one aspect of the demented mind but not others. What will prevent the castrated one from wanting to hurt others for doing such a thing to him? Nothing. I don't believe one evil justifies another. Evil is evil and if we don't work on what makes us evil, then we're not curing or stopping anything really. Just another bandaid approach.

[paganmist]

That's the thing.

There is no cure-all for evil. It's a nice concept, perhaps spiritual in nature, but in the Real World, some people do bad things, and they like doing them, and they want to do them again. Some people truly and entirely just want to do bad things. There is no good person "hiding" inside of them, waiting to come out through rehabilitation. Sometimes, people just want to choose to do the wrong things, or sometimes they are so screwed up for whatever reasons that it can't be fixed.

What then? Keep them in jail forever? Okay, if you can pull that off. But to let them back out on the pretense that they're rehabilitated, and then they go and ruin someone else's life or take that life entirely?

I think this biblical concept of evil works counter to reality. I think we need to let go of these concepts of "good" and "evil" and focus on what's "just".

[Fotios]

I'm not sure about Louisiana, but here in Georgia, if two high school kids decide to have consentual sex, and one of them is 16 and the other is 17, the 17 year old is guilty of rape and can spend up to 20 years in jail. Would Jindal like to also remove that boy's testicles with chemicals?

[nuglet304]

my guess is he wouldn't care one bit as long as it's not his boy.

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

Femimist should be A OK with this

[paganmist]

Oh, shut up. Not all feminists are the same? Feminists are HUMANS who have differing opinions the way humans usually do. That's such a lame-brained statement, and it's insulting to feminists who aren't okay with this, or who aren't the type of people you're insinuating they are with this kind of statement.

[proudloudlib]

OMG! We finally agreed on something.

[starboymikey]

My big problem is not so much with the concept of "chemical castration­." My understanding is that it is not permanent and that some rapists actually choose it over alternatives they find more repugnant.

Where I do have a problem is with the definition of "sex offender." Who will decide who is a sex offender and who is not. For example, it was only five years ago that the SCOTUS decide, and by the slimmest of margins) that Texas sodomy law was unconstitutional. Under a McCain presidency, one more far-right judge and this decision could be reversed. Now, suppose some state decides to pass a sodomy law making homosexual sex between consenting adults a "sex offense." Could police now break into someone's home, arrest them for sodomy, and then the courts convict this individual for sodomy--a sex offense? Would such an individual be subject to chemical castration? Would all homosexuals in some (or all) states face this terrifying prospect? Would a theocratic American justice system permit this as a "cure" for homosexuality?

There are other possibilities which have also been mentioned in this thread. How about a man arrested for soliciting a prostitute? Sex offender? Sixteen year old boy having sex with sixteen year old girl. Sex offender?

If chemical castration is to pass muster as a law, the definition of "sex offender" must be very narrowly applied to actual rapists.

[ebanks84]

I do believe the answer can be found in that portion of the brain that encourages sexual misbehavior towards youngsters period.

Our scientists and doctors must already know which area of the brain is extremely active when a person is highly aroused around a child, so if they can do something to revert this arousal for children, I think that might be the humane approach to these perverts.

I can't think of cutting off people's parts as a deterrant. It's there minds we need to deal with.

[littlepuffycloud]

Is a lobotomy better than castration?! Pedophiles can not be rehabilita­ted...you can "deal with" their minds forever, but it won't cure or change the person.

[ebanks84]

I totally disagree. Since our brains and mind rules all aspects of our body and thoughts, castration still leaves the person with the same thoughts but now seeking other ways of hurting others because he CANNOT do what he wants to do. Saving a child might sway this person into hurting numerous adults instead. What did you accomplish?

[SirReal1]

Your "thirst" for vengeance has apparently overwhelmed your ability to be rational.

What part of an "ineffective, but inhumane" punishment appeals to you?

On what "facts" do you base your contention that "Pedophiles can not be rehabilitated"?

[legalgirl]

How are pedofiles handled in civilized countries, like Sweden?

[ebanks84]

Nowadays, what is civilized? That is the question!

[ladydragon]

when you sayit's ok to castrate "sex offenders" does that include white female teachers who have sex with little boys in their classrooms? how 'bout Catholic Priests? Louisianna you are gonna get what you deserve with this one, someone better start the "recall" vote before he gets too deep in

[JohnCochtosten]

Jindal must be Hindi for Himmler.

[Lion24]

Hey Bobby, ever heard of "cruel and unusual?" It's in a little piece of paper called the US Constitution. Check it out sometime.

Cruel and unusual -- kind of like the rest of the nation having to put up with the likes of governors like you.