GA- Should Georgia castrate ALL sex offenders instead of sending them to the woods?

Whoever came up with this idea is turning a blind eye to how sex offenses are committed. A review of Georgia's sex offense statutes will show many offenses -considered sex crimes- which are not rape. Its really great to have people in the legislature that lack the ability to THINK!

10-2-2009 Georgia:

What is more inhumane: killing sex offenders' libidos with a hormone therapy or sending them out without a job, roof over their heads, and ability to get either one after their sentence has been served? Nine paroled Georgia sex offenders reside in tents in wooded area behind a suburban Atlanta office park in Cobb County, because of living restrictions imposed by the state.

Georgia laws bar convicted sex offenders from living or working within 1,000 feet of any place where children might be – churches, parks, schools, etc. The camp area is considered the last resort for homeless sex offenders, who especially now have a hard time finding employment after serving time.

If all else fails, probation officers actually direct people to the camp. "Even the probation officer, he looked at me and said there's nothing he can do," said Levertice Johnson, a 52-year-old who moved to the woods after he couldn't find a job and couldn't afford $60 a week for rent at an Atlanta shelter. "He knows it's wrong." source

Homeless sex offenders definitely find themselves in a predicament. Georgia has one of the toughest sex offender policies in the country. The offender cannot live in homeless shelters, because they also house children, same goes for churches or even park benches. "I'm living like an animal. It's just bad," said Johnson, who was convicted in 2002 of child molestation. "You can't clean up, you can't clean yourself, you can't do nothing. I'd rather be dead. I'm serious. I'd rather be dead." source

William Hawkins, a 34-year-old who was convicted of attempted sexual battery on a 12-year-old in 1991 when he was just 15, was recently jailed again for probation violation when he didn’t register as a sex offender in Georgia. He is from Virginia, where he has a wife, kids and a home. Georgia courts didn’t allow him to go back to Virginia so now he is unemployed, living at the camp site until his probation ends early next year. “It's kind of like a mind-game, it's like 'Survivor,” said Hawkins about his situation. source

Human Rights organizations believe Georgia laws need to be changed: "The state needs to find a responsible way to deal with this problem," said Sarah Geraghty, an attorney with the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights who represents another man living in the camp. "Requiring people to live like animals in the woods is both inhumane and a terrible idea for public safety." source

Some US states and European countries have been experimenting with chemical castration as a solution for dealing with pedophiles.

Last Friday Poland approved such law, making chemical castration mandatory for sex offenders convicted of raping children under the age of 15 years. The convicts will have to undergo chemical “therapy” upon release from prison.

Chemical castration involves the administration of anti-androgen drugs, such as cyproterone or the birth control drug Depo-Provera. The treatment doesn’t physically alter men’s body, but acts on the brain to inhibit hormones that stimulate the testicles to produce testosterone.

Scientists have observed the link between testosterone and aggression and concluded that high levels of testosterone correspond with increased violent and aggressive behavior in men. (source: High Testosterone Levels Linked to Crimes of Sex, Violence, Volume 1 No. 3, 1995, pg. 2.)

A statement released by the Polish government said, "The purpose of this action is to improve the mental health of the convict, to lower his libido and thereby to reduce the risk of another crime being committed by the same person."

But the treatment is known to have some side effects: some users show increases in body fat and reduced bone density, which increase long-term risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. They may also experience other "feminizing" effects such as gynecomastia, reduced body hair, and loss of muscle mass. Source

Late last year Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that he wanted obligatory castration for pedophiles. Tusk said he did not believe "one can use the term 'human' for such individuals, such creatures ... Therefore I don't think protection of human rights should refer to these kind of events."

Piotr Kladoczny from the Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights commented, "If somebody is of sound mind, we punish him. If he is sick, we try to cure him -- that's how it works in Polish law. This bill introduces both approaches. As far as I know, this makes our law the strictest in Europe on this issue."

In 1997 Georgia approved a chemical castration law for paroled child molesters. Perhaps it is time to extend it to all sex offenders so that their close proximity to areas with children would not be a crucial component once out of jail. That way they would be more likely to find jobs and housing, and perhaps contribute to the society they violated, instead of living in the woods in tents possibly engaging in more criminal activity just to survive. ..Source.. by Ewa Kochanska