Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
Apparently, my reputation precedes me. You can stop mailing me links to this story now, folks.
At least six men traveled from across the nation and South America to have their genitals mutilated in what Haywood County authorities described as a sadomasochistic dungeon. Three Haywood County men are now in jail on felony charges of castration without malice and practicing medicine without a license.
"Castration without malice" is a law on the books here? Oh, baby. Where can I find a transcript of that debate? I highly recommend reading my buddy Robust McManlyPants' ruminations on the story, what with his having grown up in the area and all. And I second his motion that the mugshots at the story are essential. Wow. But most of all, I feel it's important to note that it takes some real balls to get get yourself castrated.
HA HA HA HA! IT TAKES BALLS!
Update: The specific law is NC General Statute 14-29: Castration or other maiming without malice aforethought, first passed in 1754.
If any person shall, on purpose and unlawfully, but without malice aforethought, cut, or slit the nose, bite or cut off the nose, or a lip or an ear, or disable any limb or member of any other person, or castrate any other person, or cut off, maim or disfigure any of the privy members of any other person, with intent to kill, maim, disfigure, disable or render impotent such person, the person so offending shall be punished as a Class E felon.
TrackBackI have to hand it to my fellow mountaineers. The comments thread on the Citizen-Times boards, for this story, are pretty funny: as of this writing, one person as surprised as I was to learn that "castration without malice" was common enough to warrant legislation and somebody's description of the psychology of a participant: You'd have to be nuts!
Gods, but I have laughed until tears over this story.
It gets dull way up the mountain, yeah, but it doesn't get that dull.
Posted by: Robust McManlyPants at March 31, 2006 07:51 PMWhat I don't get is, why bother with a whole dungeon?
Just go to an ordinary bar, start drinking, and wait for them to cut you off.
Posted by: Gaijin Biker at April 1, 2006 09:19 AMThis is the best story ever. Saw Robust today and this was the very first tale told.
But what I want to know? WHY?
I mean--ok, I can come up with some general ideas. But it's possible it was something even weirder.
Posted by: b. at April 1, 2006 10:36 PMWe were having the same conversation about the law on Saturday morning - when b. heard me tell his one in person - so Roommate Josh went and got his book of NC statutes and looked it up. We were very surprised by the 1745 thing. Yow. Talk about old-school!
Posted by: Robust McManlyPants at April 3, 2006 08:04 PMFun thing I learned today: the DA in Haywood Co. thinks the law was written to address vigilantes going after sex offenders. Was that a concern in 1831? Honest question. I'd totally buy that vigilante justice was about the only recourse a lot of places had back then.
Posted by: Robust McManlyPants at April 4, 2006 10:16 PMOh, dang - you know what I just remembered? A few months ago I read a book on cults through history and there were a couple of chapters on castration cults in the 19th century in Europe. I wonder if what's where the "without malice" divide came from? I'll go back and check the times on those cults.
Posted by: Robust McManlyPants at April 6, 2006 02:38 PM