Vasectomies Should Not Be Used as Punishment

Put this in the "can they even do that?" files. Jesse Lee Herald of Edinburg, Virginia, received an unusual sentence for child endangerment, hit-and-run driving, and driving on a suspended license: 20 months in prison, five years of probation, and a vasectomy. As part of his plea deal, Herald had to agree to get snipped when he got out of jail. He's not allowed to undergo a reversal until his probation is up. 

Herald has a fairly long rap sheet already, including a previous hit-and-run conviction, but it wasn't just his life of petty crime that inspired the mandatory vasectomy, according to what assistant prosecutor Ilona L. White told NV Daily:

White said her motivation in offering the vasectomy option to Herald stemmed from concerns raised at sentencing hearings in earlier cases about how many children have been traced to him from different women.

"It was primarily due to the fact he had seven or eight children, all by different women, and we felt it might be in the commonwealth's interest for that to be part of...