US judge tells inmates to get sterilised for reduced jail time

A judge in central Tennessee in the United States has offered the prison inmates to reduce jail time in exchange for sterilisation operations, the Washington Post reports.

General Sessions Judge Sam Benningfield issued the standing order for the inmates in White County, Tennessee. It offers “30 days credit toward their jail time if they volunteer for vasectomies or contraceptive implants”.

“The judge is hoping to help repeat offenders make something of themselves by offering them a highly original and probably unconstitutional deal: reduced jail time in exchange for sterilisation operations,” the Washington Post reported on Friday quoting NewsChannel 5.

“The order came down quietly in May, and already dozens of inmates have sought to take advantage of it,” the report said.

“Thirty-two women have received implants of the hormone device Nexplanon, and 38 men have signed up to receive vasectomies,” the report added.

The procedures are reportedly being performed free by the Tennessee Department of Health. The department did not immediately return messages early Friday seeking to confirm the account, according to Washington Post.

Inmates in White County were also reportedly offered a two-day credit on their sentence if they completed a neonatal class designed to educate them about the dangers of having children while using drugs.

The report quoted Benningfield as telling the NewsChannel 5 that “he issued the order after consulting with health officials”.

He said he wanted to break a “vicious cycle” of drug offenders passing through his courtroom who couldn’t find jobs or afford child support.

“I hope to encourage them to take personal responsibility and give them a chance, when they do get out, to not to be burdened with children,” he said. “This gives them a chance to get on their feet and make something of themselves.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee is crying foul at the order, saying judges should not play a role in a person’s ability to procreate.

“Offering a so-called ‘choice’ between jail time and coerced contraception or sterilisation is unconstitutional,” Hedy Weinberg, the organisation's executive director, said in a statement.

“Such a choice violates the fundamental constitutional right to reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity by interfering with the intimate decision of whether and when to have a child, imposing an intrusive medical procedure on individuals who are not in a position to reject it.”

In Tennessee, heroin-related arrests have surged in recent years as the state has struggled to respond to growing opioid addiction and contain an influx of illegal drugs.

Crimes involving pills and heroin have risen, according to state health officials, especially in the eastern part of the state and rural communities like White County, which has a population of 25,000, the Washington Post added.