Judge pulls offer of shorter jail sentences for vasectomies

A judge in central Tennessee has withdrawn a controversial order offering reduced jail time to inmates who volunteer for sterilization procedures after the plan drew a wave of criticism from health officials, prosecutors and civil rights attorneys.

General Sessions Judge Sam Benningfield’s order promised inmates in White County, Tenn., 30-day credits toward their sentences if they received vasectomies or birth control implants. The hope, Benningfield said, was to break a “vicious cycle” of repeat drug offenders passing through his courtroom who could not find jobs or afford child support.

Originally issued in May, the highly unorthodox order received national media attention after a local news station reported on it last week. During the roughly two months the order was in place, 32 women received implants of the hormone device Nexplanon, and 38 men signed up to receive vasectomies, according to NewsChannel 5.

In a one-page court filing Thursday, the judge rescinded the order. He wrote that anyone who signed up for the procedures and took “serious and considered steps toward their rehabilitation” would still get the credit, but the plan was otherwise canceled.

“I wasn’t on a crusade,” Benningfield told the Times Free Press of Chattanooga on Thursday. “I don’t have a ‘mission.’ I thought I could help a few folks, get them thinking and primarily help children.”

Benningfield claimed that he came up with the plan after consulting with the Tennessee Department of Health, and told local media last week that the department was performing the sterilization procedures free of charge.

But a spokeswoman for the health department disputed that account, telling The Washington Post that state

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health officials opposed such a policy and played no role in the judge’s decision.

On Thursday, Benningfield continued to assert that the department was involved. He said in his filing that he was forced to rescind the order because the department had decided “it will no longer offer free vasectomies to White County inmates” and “will not provide the free Nexplanon implant” in exchange for credits toward their sentences.