Bill HB 379, which was introduced by Republican state Representative Steve Hurst, R-Calhoun County requires child sex offenders over the age of 21 whose case involves anyone under the age of 13 to undergo chemical castration (which uses drugs to suppress someone's libido by affecting hormones) before being released from prison is awaiting the signature of Alabama's Governor, Kay Ivey (R) for it to become law.
“They have
marked this child for life and the punishment should fit the crime,” Mr. Hurst
told WIAT-TV in Birmingham.
As
stated by the bill, the parolees are obliged to pay the cost of their mandatory treatments
(with possible exceptions for the destitute) and those refusing to undergo the procedure would constitute a violation of their parole.
According to
The Daily Mail, “Since the
mid 1990s, eight states have permitted some form of either chemical or surgical
castration of sex offenders, though in practice courts have rarely ordered the
treatments to be carried out. California was the first state to allow chemical
castration for certain sex offenders who would be required to receive
medroxyprogesterone (MPA), an artificial female hormone used to treat symptoms
of menopause.”
The first
chemical castration law was passed in 1996 by California.
"They're going to challenge it under the 8th Amendment Constitution. They're going to claim that it is cruel and unusual punishment for someone who has served their time and for the rest of their life have to be castrated." —Attorney Raymond Johnson
"I had people call me in the past when I introduced it and said don't you think this is inhumane? I asked them what's more inhumane than when you take a little infant child, and you sexually molest that infant child when the child cannot defend themselves or get away, and they have to go through all the things they have to go through. If you want to talk about inhumane--that's inhumane," —Steve Hurst
In 2013, 2014 and 2016, Hurst tried to pass similar bills which would require child sex offenders to pay for their own surgical castration (which involves the physical removal of the man's testicles).
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