Thursday, June 26, 2008

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana Signs Sex Offender Chemical Castration Bill

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana spoke out over the Supreme Court ruling that was issued yesterday, calling the ruling an "affront to the people of Louisiana". He took it a step further today and signed a Sex Offender Chemical Castration Bill.
After yesterday's Supreme Court decision saying that child rapists cannot receive the death penalty, Governor Bobby Jindal vowed to do whatever is possible to amend the state laws so that the death penalty would be the punishment for child rapists, and as of today he has signed into law the authorization to castrate convicted sex offenders.

There will be a choice between chemical castration and physical castration.

Chemical castration is where hormonal medication is used and it acts on the brain to inhibit hormones that stimulate the testicles to produce testosterone.

Physical castration, for men, is the removal or destruction of one or both testicles with chemicals or surgical procedures.

California was the first state to use chemical castration as a punishment for sex offenders and other states such as Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, and Montana have all experimented with chemical castration laws for sexual offenders.

According to the Jindal release which was reported by the conservative website, RedState:

SB 144 by Senators Nick Gautreaux, Amedee, Dorsey, Duplessis and Mount provides that on a first conviction of aggravated rape, forcible rape, second degree sexual battery, aggravated incest, molestation of a juvenile when the victim is under the age of 13, or an aggravated crime against nature, the court may sentence the offender to undergo chemical castration. On a second conviction of the above listed crimes, the court is required to sentence the offender to undergo chemical castration.


Jindal's intent is to send a clear and concise message about, to which his statement addresses by saying, "I want to send the message loud and clear – to the Supreme Court of the United States and beyond – make no mistake about it, if anyone wants to molest children and commit sexual assaults on kids they should not do so here in Louisiana. Here, we will do everything in our power to protect our children and we will not rest until justice is won and we have fully punished those who harm them.”

The Supreme Court ruling on the Kennedy vs Louisiana can be found here. (You can find the Syllabus, the Opinion itself and the dissenting opinions.)

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