Court says hooking ex-offenders up to machines and asking them to masturbate is invasive? Wow, that's like saying guys in Affliction shirts don't get laid as much as they claim!

 As a condition of probation, prisoners can agree to many stipulations, usually giving up certain rights for periods of time, such as travel, or going to meetings, doctors, etc. On October 3rd, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision forbidding "penile plethysmograph examination" requirements as a term of early release. The appellant in this case is David McLaurin, a convicted sex offender. Penile plethysmographs are increasingly used, not as evidence in trials, but to assess the likelihood of recidivism amongst sex offenders.

Penile Plethysmograph Examination station

Plethysmograph is a fancy sounding medical device that measures genital response to a pornographic stimulus. For men, a small noose (technicians refer to this as a "gauge") is placed around the penis. A cord connects this noose to a machine with registers increased "tumescence" to various images or videos. For women, a nub is placed two inches inside the vagina with cords attached to register increases in the vaginal tissue.  In order to accurately calibrate the machine and gauges, subjects may be required to masturbation before the examination begins.

At this point, you may being wondering "What the fuck? Who thinks of something like that?" or maybe, "Didn't I see that in Clockwork Orange?"

The penile plethysmograph was created in the 50s in Czechoslovakia to weed out homosexuals from the military. Since then, it has continued to be used by governments to seek out homosexuals and pedophiles.

The accuracy is, well, iffy. Genital response does not always indicate sexual desire. Many forms of emotions, including fear, anger and stress, can lead to genital changes. A 1996 study at the University of Georgia used penile plethysmography to study responses to homosexual pornography between two groups, homophobic men and non-homophobic men. Both groups responded with increased tumescence to heterosexual and lesbian pornography, but only the homophobic group responded to male homosexual porn. To be fair, the homophobic man's hatred may stem from his own struggles with sexuality, but this also suggests that many emotions are at play in human sexual response.

 Additionally, even if genital response indicates sexual desire, sexual desire does not mean sexual action. Example: A man may receive an erection when looking at Angelina Jolie, but that does not give much information about whether he will have sex with her.

I have only read about this being used on male sex offenders, but the "Guidelines for the Use of the Penile Plethysmograph" also include instructions for use on females, which requires penetration. Using such measures on women as a term of release could easily be compared to rape and would spark outrage. Why is coerced masturbation not as objectionable and rapey when used on men?

Using these exams as a condition of release seems to be just another way to shame sex offenders. With so many forces involved with an individual's ability to exhibit sexual desire and response and so little conclusive research regarding the accuracy of such exams, what is the redeeming value? The justice system, itself, becomes a sex offender when it requires an offender to masturbate on a leash as a condition of probation.