By Eric Marchan – Staff Writer
Days after Governor Kay Ivey signed the chemical castration the American Civil Liberties Union considers the law unconstitutional.
According to the ACLU the new chemical castration law violates the Eighth Amendment of the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution. The Eighth Amendment basically says that punishments must be fair, cannot be cruel, and that fines cannot be extraordinary. The main critic of the law is that it forces offenders to alter their body chemistry against their own will.
Another critic of the law is the cost of the chemical castration injection. According to a doctor in Massachusetts, who prescribes chemical castration, it can cost up to $1,000 per treatment. The treatment can last between a month and 90 days. In Alabama sex offenders would be require to pay for the treatment as part of their parole conditions, however it also states they cannot be denied parole solely on their inability to pay for the treatment. The treatment would only be required until a court deems they can stop.
Critics of this new law say that forced chemical castration is both inhumane and ineffective. Some doctors say that chemical castration is only effective in some sex offenders. However chemical castration alone cannot stop sexual desires towards children. Therapy and medical evaluation along with chemical castration stops these sex offenders from hurting innocent children.
Chemical castration has undesired effects such as hair loss, breast growth, weight gain, diabetes and bone loss.
According to Republican Representative Hurst gave his opinion on another network on the castration of sex offenders. He said, “I’d prefer it be surgical, because the way I look at it, if they’re going to mark these children for life, they need to be marked for life. My preference would be, if someone does a small infant child like that, they need to die.” Hurst is the sponsor of the bill.
The ACLU plans to wait and challenge the law until the first treatment is ordered for a sex offender.
