No, not 'no-knock' warrant. . . .

I guess legislators in my home state also missed the memo about how, in what used to be called Christendom, we don't mutilate people as punishment for crimes.

THAT'S ALL ABOUT to change in what -- when I wasn't looking -- must have become the Islamic Republic of Louisiana, as this Associated Press report indicates:

The most serious sex crimes should be punishable by castration, with drugs or surgery, the Louisiana Senate voted on Tuesday.

The bill by Sen. Nick Gautreaux, D-Meaux, would give judges the option of imposing chemical castration on those convicted of sex crimes including aggravated rape, simple rape and indecent behavior with a juvenile. Chemical castration would be mandatory on second offenses, and the offender would have the option of choosing physical castration instead.

Senators voted 32-3 to send the measure to the House.

(snip)

The drug treatment would be mandatory on a second offense, though a medical expert would have to determine that the treatment would be effective.

Once ordered to undergo the treatment, the offender would have the option of physical castration — which Gautreaux said some offenders might prefer to avoid any drug side effects or in hopes of permanently curbing impulses that led to his offense.

WELL, IF THIS BILL becomes law, and if the Gret Stet becomes truly vigilant about ferreting out and prosecuting sexual abuse, the population of some corners of, say, Livingston Parish might be decimated.

And if you fail to get my drift, let me just say that 25 years ago, while working on a news story in that parish, I had a school administrator tell me -- without any hint of humor or irony -- what a horrible problem his school faced with incest. That, sadly, only confirmed what was common knowledge about that neck of the woods at the time.

Last I heard, incest is a sex crime -- even in Louisiana.

So let us hope for swift and vigilant enforcement of the Louisiana criminal code. In a generation or three, we well might be rid of the kind of inbred morons who can elect an assembly such as this.