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25 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 117 (1997-1998)
Florida's 1997 Chemical Castration Law: A Return to the Dark Ages

handle is hein.journals/flsulr25 and id is 131 raw text is: FLORIDA'S 1997 CHEMICAL CASTRATION LAW: A RETURN TO THE DARK AGES LARRY HELM SPALDING* I. INTRODU CTION ................................................................................................... 117 II. A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHEMICAL CASTRATION IN THE UNITED STATES .............. 119 III. FLORIDA'S 1997 CHEMICAL CASTRATION STATUTE ............................................ 120 A. The Wonder Drug: M PA ............................................................................. 121 B. The Role of the M edical Expert ................................................................... 123 IV. CONSTITUTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS .................................................................. 125 A. Involuntary Treatment and Informed Consent .......................................... 126 B . The R ight to Privacy ................................................................................... 128 C. Cruel and Unusual Punishment ................................................................ 130 D. Due Process and Equal Protection .............................................................. 131 E . D ouble Jeopardy ......................................................................................... 133 V. A C I L LIBERTIES ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 135 VI. A MORE RATIONAL APPROACH: THE ACLU OF FLORIDA POLICY ON THE USE OF ANTIANDROGEN DRUGS IN SEX OFFENDER CASES ........................................ 136 V II. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 138 I. INTRODUCTION Throughout history, castration has been used to punish sex of- fenders.' By the late 1900s, most castration sentences were disal- lowed on appeal, and a relieved public lauded itself for living in more enlightened times.2 However, in Florida, the definition of enlight- enment changed when, in 1997, the Florida Legislature over- whelmingly enacted chapter 97-184, Florida Laws,3 opening the door * Legislative Staff Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union, Tallahassee, Florida. B.A., Vanderbilt University, 1964; J.D., Vanderbilt University, 1967; LL.M., Southern Methodist University, 1968. Law Clerk to the Honorable Irving L. Goldberg, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Dallas, Texas 1967-68. The author gratefully ac- knowledges the research assistance of Joshua A. Munn, Boca Raton, Florida, a second-year law student at Stanford University and intern for the ACLU of Florida during the summer of 1997. 1. See, e.g., Kimberly A. Peters, Comment, Chemical Castration An Alternative to Incarceration, 31 DUQ. L. REV. 307, 308-09 (1993) (describing the historical uses of castra- tion). 2. See generally id.; Karl A. Vanderzyl, Comment, Castration as an Alternative to In- carceration An Impotent Approach to the Punishment of Sex Offenders, 15 N. ILL. U. L. REV. 107, 109-13 (1994) (describing the eugenics movement of the early twentieth century in the United States); Sheldon Gelman, The Biological Alternative Cases, 36 WM. & MARY L. REV. 1203, 1203-15 (1995) (chronicling the Supreme Court's treatment of four types of biological alteration controversies); Connie S. Rosati, A Study of Internal Punishment, 1994 WIS. L. REV. 123, 165-66 (1994) (presenting a philosophical discussion of the effort to move from voluntary choice to involuntary imposition of drug therapy); Stacy Russell, Comment, Castration of Repeat Sexual Offenders: An International Comparative Analysis, 19 HouS. J. INVL L. 425, 438-40 (1997) (discussing the international history and debate over the use of chemical castration). 3. Act effective Oct. 1, 1997, ch. 97-184, § 1, 1997 Fla. Laws 3455 (codified at FLA. STAT. § 794.0235 (1997)).

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