Considering castration for certain sex offenders

Earlier this week, the AP and the Washington Post both had stories about sex offenders (one in California and on in Virginia) who voluntarily underwent physical castration to reduce their sex drives and are now seeking release from prison.  Here are some details from the AP story:

A convicted child molester who got surgically castrated to curb his urges wants to be released from custody.  Kevin Reilly won a court order and paid to have his testicles removed in 2003.  “He felt that this was the only way to stop his cravings and immoral conduct,” said his attorney, Orange County Deputy Public Defender Dinah Granafei.

Reilly says he has completed a sex-offender treatment program, undergone castration and is no longer a threat to children. He wants to be freed from Atascadero Mental Hospital, where he has been locked up since 2000 when the Orange County District Attorney’s Office filed a petition labeling him a Sexually Violent Predator.

The Washington Post story, which centers on an inmate who castrated himself while in prison, provides broader background on the emerging role of castration in sex offender debates:

High-profile pedophilia cases … [and] public outrage has caused lawmakers in Virginia and other states to try to make castration part of the solution for high-risk sex offenders.  Eight states allow the use of drugs to castrate sex offenders, including California, Florida and Texas, where surgical castration is also an option.  Castration, however, is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.  In Florida, for instance, judges are required to order castration for certain repeat offenders.  Although many scientists and psychologists agree that castration can dramatically lower sexual drive, there is sharp disagreement about whether it is a cure-all….

Although such drugs as Depo-Provera and Depo-Lupron can help control some sexual disorders, they may not control, for example, a violent serial rapist who targets adult women out of anger and a need for control.  The drugs can also have serious side effects.  And there is concern that castrated sex offenders might replenish their testosterone by injecting hormones purchased illegally or over the Internet.

This year, state Sen. Emmett W. Hanger Jr. (R-Augusta) floated a bill in the legislature that would have allowed sex offenders to choose to be surgically castrated in exchange for their freedom at the end of their prison sentences.  Hanger withdrew the bill after questions arose about whether courts might deem castration cruel and unusual punishment.  But he said the fact that sex offenders would volunteer for the procedure should allay such concerns.  He hopes to introduce a revised version in the next session.