Like an infinite number of monkeys at word processors cranking out the great books, the Hillsborough County Commission finally passed – at the initiative of Ronda Storms – a proposal that makes sense for everybody from downtown to Dover.
Storms wants legislative approval that would offer convicted child abusers the sentencing option of sterilization or a vasectomy. This would prevent the spawning of more would-be victims. Storms would like county legislators to submit a bill with a sterilization provision – and the rest of the commission unanimously backed her.
Two points.
One, predators and mutants who abuse children deserve the same options the abused children were given: none. Make it mandatory.
Two, a program with such serious implications needs a trial run. This can be the “voluntary” phase. A prudent starting point would be the county commission itself. The obvious upside: no possible spawning of would-be commissioners. There may be a dysfunction-deifying gene.