Castration & the Court

Doctors are far from convinced that castration is any good as a treatment for sex offenders. They know that the operation destroys fertility and often has a marked effect on potency: they do not see how it can cure the sick mind in which the urge for sexual offenses is born. Nevertheless, Judge Lawrence N. Turrentine of San Diego got up before an audience of California sheriffs last week and asserted that, regardless of theory, castration works well in practice.

Judge Turrentine started his controversial experiment 14 years ago when a physician who had molested children in three other states came before him. The doctor-defendant asked the court to order him emasculated. That way, he thought, he might have a chance to rebuild his life. Turrentine agreed, and the doctor has had no trouble with the law since; has married and is now the head of a hospital.

Turrentine set up some safeguards before applying the idea more widely. He never suggests emasculation to a defendant: the suggestion must be made in a voluntary petition. A physical and psychiatric examination must convince the judge that the operation is likely to do more good than harm. If the man is married, his wife must join in the petition.

No defendant under 25 is considered for the operation, because up to that age, his voice and other secondary sex characteristics might change too drastically. Only when all these conditions are met does Judge Turrentine order the operation (surgical removal of both testicles). It has been performed in 60 cases, and all the men were put on 15 years' probation. So far, none has backslid.

"These men," Turrentine declared last week, "have all gone out and worked for themselves instead of being locked up where they are no good to anyone."

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