Measuring erections of sex offenders after forced arousal has been nixed by the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a recent report from Reason.
A so-called “plethysmography examination” was used as part of convicted sex offender David McLaurin’s probation. During the exam, McLaurin had a device like the one seen in the image above attached to his penis. He was then shown pornographic images and video as the device monitored blood flow to his penis and measured the extent of his erection. Last week, the Second Circuit appeals court (New York, Vermont, and Connecticut) ruled this practice was “extraordinarily invasive” and declared that it was a violation of due process.
Reason notes a similar 2001 case in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which explained that measuring erections “has become routine in the treatment of sexual offenders.” Plethysmography advocates argue that the process can help gauge a sex offender’s “likelihood of recidivism,” or in other words, his likelihood of becoming a repeat offender.
Judges did not see it that way.
From the Second Circuit opinion:
“We find it odd that, to deter a person from committing sexual crimes, the Government would use a procedure designed to arouse and excite a person with depictions of sexual conduct closely related to the sexual crime of conviction.”
While the nature of McLaurin’s crime was not detailed in the action, a previous court found him “unlikely to re-offend.” The system’s decision to mandate plethysmography in the first place was due to McLaurin’s failure to fill out a form registering his address when he moved from Alabama to Vermont in 2011. More @
http://www.inquisitr.com/measuring-erections-of-sex-offenders-banned
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