A Tennessee judge who agreed to shave time off inmates' sentences if they agreed to receive vasectomies or other forms of birth control was publicly reprimanded by Tennessee judicial regulators.
In its Nov. 15 letter of reprimand, the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct suggested White County Judge Sam Benningfield acted in a way that threatened public confidence in the judicial system.
"You have acknowledged that even though your [sic] were trying to accomplish a worthy goal in preventing the birth of substance addicted babies by the entry of your order of May 15, 2017, you now realize that this order could unduly coerce inmates into undergoing a surgical procedure which would cause at least a temporary sterilization, and it was therefore improper," the letter states.
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