Castration & the 8th Amendment
Some countries provide Castration - chemical or surgical as a way of alternative or additional penalties for crimes against sexual inviolability of minors. As a kind of a punishment castration was used in ancient Rome, it was common also in the Middle Ages. But it was not the penalty exactly for sexual offenses. The first chemical castration was used in 1944. Its main sense is in taking drugs that reduce the production or block the action of testosterone, the male hormone. Such therapy suppresses libido, reduces aggression. The patient is deprived of the ability to commit a sexual act in some cases, and its need is minimized.
Today, the chemical castration of rapists, offenders is used in the US, UK, Germany, most of Western Europe, Israel, and is considered a humane method of neutralization of sexual aggression. And in most cases the procedure is carried out with the consent of the convicted person.In the USA there is a law on compulsory castration, which entered into force in 1990. According to it, the chemical castration may be appointed by a judge in the case, if convicted, released from prison, makes a relapse of sexual crimes. The court can not punish a rapist surgical castration, but the defendant can make it voluntarily.
In California in 1996, there were about 16 thousand convicted pedophiles and about 200 - are released from prison weekly, many of whom - castrated. “It would be preferable that future legislative decisions be informed by evidence-based input from the relevant scientific*medical communities” (Berlin, 2003).If a person is convicted for the second time, he must undergo such treatment. In both cases, treatment begins one week before the release and continues as long as the Council of imprisonment is satisfied that such treatment can be stopped. In practice, this could mean - the end of life, because it entails the termination of the restoration level of sex hormones, and, consequently, the sexual desire. Several states have recently adopted laws prepared to identify a small group of extremely dangerous incarcerated sexual offenders who become a threat to public safety if released from custody (Weinberger et. al, 2005).Although chemical castration is an alternative to long term or surgical castration, the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the use of any drug, including ant androgen drugs for rapists. Its members believe that forced chemical castration is a cruel punishment, and so it should be banned by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution (which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment).
“Three questions that the Supreme Court asks when assessing whether a punishment violates the Eighth Amendment include: Is the punishment inherently cruel or excessive? Is the punishment or condition proportional to the crime? Can the state achieve its goal through less intrusive means?” (Scott & Holmberg, 2003). They also argue that it contradicts the right of reproduction, and may lead to various diseases.Thus, any state should protect its population, or rather its most vulnerable part …
