CALIFORNIA:  TWO YEARS LATER, CHEMICAL CASTRATION ORDERED ONLY ONCE

Associated Press

California became the first state to pass a law requiring chemical castration of some childmolesters, which took effect in January 1997. After nearly two years the procedure has been orderedin only one case. The criminal justice establishment appears to be undermining it, according toSusan Carpenter-McMillan, the conservative activist who drafted the law. The CorrectionsDepartment

says the law applies only to prisoners who were sentenced after January 1997, most of who arenot due to be paroled for many years.

The law requires that twice-convicted child molesters take weekly injections of Depo-Provera,which is a birth-control drug that reduces sexual drive in men, as a condition of parole.Recidivism rates dropped sharply in European countries that injected molesters with Depo-Provera,Carpenter-McMillan said.