Some Sex Offenders Opt for Castration

March 2 -- Increasingly severe sex offender laws nationwide are convincing some criminals to take drastic measures in an effort to prove they are fit for society — even resorting to a treatment so brutal it disappeared from the criminal justice system decades ago.

At least 15 repeat sex offenders in California alone have asked for surgical castration as a way of avoiding indefinite incarceration, according to the Los Angeles Times. Over the last three years, two offenders — including a pedophile freed three months ago — have walked free from state mental hospitals after undergoing the surgery.

California is one of at least seven states with laws that mandate continued civil confinement of convicted offenders even after their prison terms expire. Although opponents challenged the constitutionality of the laws for years, claiming they violate "double jeopardy" rules, the measures are here to stay.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court all but ruled out the possibility that civil confinement ever could be challenged in federal court as double jeopardy.

California is also one of a handful of states that mandate castration — either chemical or surgical — for repeat offenders before being released. Texas was the first state to offer castration to repeat offenders on a voluntary basis.

'Cruel and Unusual Punishment'?

In some cases, surgical castration has convinced judges and state officials that repeat offenders no longer pose a threat. In Florida, an offender's sentence was cut short in 1999 after he was castrated. Repeat offenders in other states, including Illinois, Ohio and Arkansas, have either requested or received the surgery as a way to bargain for a reduced sentence.

Across the nation, law enforcement officials are experimenting with other ways to tinker with offenders' libidos to help them control their behavior. In Colorado, for example, state prison officials are administering anti-depressants to offenders to study the drugs' effects on reducing their sexual appetites.