Should the state pay for sex change operation?

[Cathleen]

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/irresistible/9298801/detail.html

Killer Wants State To Pay For Sex Change
Inmate Wants To Become A Woman

UPDATED: 1:00 pm EDT May 31, 2006

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BOSTON -- A convicted killer serving a life sentence for murdering his wife 16 years ago wants Massachusetts to pay for his sex change operation.

Television station WCVB reported that Robert Kosilek now goes by the name Michelle. He's already been before the state courts and has received favorable rulings.

The court has previously granted the 57-year-old the right to have the state pay for his female hormone treatments and laser hair removal after a judge ruled he is entitled to treatment for a condition called gender identity disorder.

Now, Kosilek wants the commonwealth to pay for a sex change operation to become a woman.

His lawyer said that denying him the operation amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

On Tuesday, a psychiatrist testified that Kosilek is likely to commit suicide if he doesn't get the operation.

The trial in Federal District Court in South Boston is expected to last about two weeks.

Interesting huh? To think this was filed under "Irresistible Headlines". I don't get it, you break the law, get sentence to prision yes, but it seems their rights increase while the general public pays in money and rights.

Discuss if you'd like.

 

[EJFan]

i'm more curious about why he's "robert" but now going by "michelle." in these instances isn't it traditional to feminize the male name? shouldn't he be roberta?

but to add seriously to the discussion (or start it as it were) i don't agree with the idea of extending such a "right" to an inmate. i remember, however, that we're a nation of laws and if a lawyer can convince a judge that it's within the bounds of the law then the only way to address it is to change the law.

changing this law would rewrite "cruel and unusual punishment" and as much as that tends to create problems it serves a deeply functional purpose that i'm sure we don't want to alter in any significant way. frankly, that law won't be rewritten and, that being the case, i can't imagine any judge accepting this gender reassignment case as a violation of it.

the bigger shame is that the already overcrowded courts have to contend with it.

 

[The Gimp]

Could denying an alcoholic the right to drink be classified as cruel and unusual punishment? Hell, I don't even have to go that far to show how silly the argument in favor of the surgery is. How is sentencing the man to spend the rest of his life in prison any less cruel than making him serve that sentence in the body that he was born in? If I dig deep enough I can find a doctor who would diagnose an inmate who was born short, fat, stupid, and ugly with four separate syndromes. Is the state obligated to resolve that inmate's issues?

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

 

[EJFan]

If he needs a pair of shoes or glasses, OK. But that's it.

what about a hearing aide?

 

[Guest]

 

[silverwhisper]

the convict's demands are groundless and without merit. irrespective of your opinion on the nature of gender reassignment processes, the taxpayer does not have an obligation to foot the bill for elective surgery.

ed

 

[angelicminx]

Killer Wants State To Pay For Sex Change
Inmate Wants To Become A Woman

UPDATED: 1:00 pm EDT May 31, 2006

Email This Story | Print This Story

BOSTON -- A convicted killer serving a life sentence for murdering his wife 16 years ago wants Massachusetts to pay for his sex change operation.

Television station WCVB reported that Robert Kosilek now goes by the name Michelle. He's already been before the state courts and has received favorable rulings.

The court has previously granted the 57-year-old the right to have the state pay for his female hormone treatments and laser hair removal after a judge ruled he is entitled to treatment for a condition called gender identity disorder.

Now, Kosilek wants the commonwealth to pay for a sex change operation to become a woman.

His lawyer said that denying him the operation amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

On Tuesday, a psychiatrist testified that Kosilek is likely to commit suicide if he doesn't get the operation.

The trial in Federal District Court in South Boston is expected to last about two weeks.

If I recall my health insurance company's handbook, this surgury is considered elective and they won't foot the bill, so why in the hell should the tax payers foot the bill for someone who has been convicted of murder?

He/ she is going to commit suicide if he/ she doesn't get the operation? Good riddance! What a waste of tax payer dollars.

The pathetic thing is, he/ she will get the operation. Criminals in this country have more rights handed to them than the average person. Wait, I take that back. PRISONERS have more rights. I can't afford a sex change operation, not that I need or want one, but do you think the state would pay for one if I threatened to commit suicide? Hell no! They'd either lock me up in Bellevue or they'd hand me a gun and tell me to go for it.

Cases like this just piss me off. Why not just throw them out all together? Because it's not 'politically correct'? Grrr!

 

[emap]

Alot of people go to jail because of what is in the prisons. They get televisions, they get internet access on computers, they get three square meals a day, they have healthcare, they do make license plates sure, but that isn't all they do, they do customer service work for companies, they do phone survey's, and they take online orders for companies. All of which works for the companies because they can pay the inmates barely anything so they can keep their costs down. Non of which particularly teaches the inmates to be better people, just gives them a tradeskill though usually gives them information they shouldn't have in the process.

Heck, if your gay and can't get a date, go to prison and get sex all the time.

I swear this country is way to human rights for inmates, what about the rights of the victims? If Sally is raped, why should her rapist if he is even caught in the first place get to sit in the lap of luxury while she is huddling behind her sofa shivering in fear? If John gets killed, why should his murderer sit in the lap of luxury while his family struggles to come to peace with the sudden loss of a husband, brother, boyfriend, father and son? Personally, I think prisons should go back to the 20's, you get radio overheard from the guards, you get newspapers and you get to lay in your tiny little cell with someone else doing nothing but think all day, or doing backbreaking work with guards on your ass to work harder. If that happened, people won't be so quick to say give them the death sentence, they won't be so upset that the perpetrator got 15 years in prison and they can move on easier knowing the person who caused the pain in the first place, has it worse.

 

[Cathleen]

I'll keep you posted on the decision.

It seems like a no brainer doesn't it? Seems being the key word.

While I don't think prison is appealing it does tick me off that they don't do more work for the states. We have captive workers there, let's use them and save the state some money on some tasks.

 

[Eilan]

plus, i'm sure he'll have plenty of opportunities to get fucked anyways.

That's what I was thinking. He's probably already someone's bitch, anyway. Just wanted to make it "official."

So would he then have to transfer to a women's prison?

 

[EJFan]

While I don't think prison is appealing it does tick me off that they don't do more work for the states. We have captive workers there, let's use them and save the state some money on some tasks.

i don't even think the inmates find the prison appealing.

 

[Eilan]

i don't even think the inmates find the prison appealing.

Hey, everybody! It's Mr. Literal!

 

[EJFan]

Hey, everybody! It's Mr. Literal!

i do it becuase i can... can-can-can...

 

[Guest]

 

[Eilan]

I wondered the same thing.

If he stays in a men's prison, he could do a DP.

 

[Guest]

 

[Eilan]

he probably already has

True. I wasn't thinking of a 2-in-1 special.

 

[Cathleen]

Update -- er, nothing to update.


Prisoner Seeks Sex-Change Operation
Massachusetts Case Tied Up Over Question of Who Pays for Surgery
By DENISE LAVOIE,AP
Posted: 2007-06-27 10:27:00
Filed Under: Crime News, Nation

BOSTON (June 27) - A trial that opened more than a year ago has become bogged down in Boston federal court. There have been hundreds of hours of testimony from witnesses, including 10 medical specialists paid tens of thousands of dollars. The judge himself even hired an expert to help him make sense of it all.

The question at the center of the case: Should a murderer serving life in prison get a sex-change operation at taxpayer expense?

The case of Michelle - formerly Robert - Kosilek is being closely watched across the country by advocates for other inmates who want to undergo a sex change. Transgender inmates in other states have sued prison officials, and not one has succeeded in persuading a judge to order a sex-change operation.

The Massachusetts Correction Department is vigorously fighting Kosilek 's request for surgery, saying it would create a security nightmare and make Kosilek a target for sexual assault.

An Associated Press review of the case, including figures obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests and interviews, found that the Correction Department and its outside health care provider have spent more than $52,000 on experts to testify about an operation that would cost about $20,000.

The duration and expense of the case have outraged some lawmakers who insist that taxpayers should not have to pay for inmates to have surgery that most private insurers reject as elective.

"They are prisoners. They are there because they've broken the law," said Republican state Sen. Scott Brown, who unsuccessfully introduced a bill to ban sex-change surgery for inmates. "Other folks, people who want to get these types of surgeries, they have to go through their insurance carrier or save up for it and do it independently. Yet if you are in prison, you can do it for nothing? That doesn't make a lot of sense."

But advocates say in some cases - such as that of Kosilek , who has twice attempted suicide - sex-change surgery is as much a medical necessity as treatment for diabetes or high blood pressure.

"The duty belongs to the prison to figure out how to fulfill its constitutional obligations to both provide adequate medical care and provide a fundamental security for all inmates," said Cole Thaler, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a gay- and transgender-rights group.

Kosilek , 58, was convicted of strangling his wife in 1990. He claimed he killed her in self-defense after she spilled boiling tea on his genitals.

Robert Kosilek legally changed his name to Michelle in 1993, and has sued the Correction Department twice, arguing that its refusal to allow a sex-change operation violates the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

In 2002, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Kosilek was entitled to medical treatment for gender identity disorder, but stopped short of ordering the surgery. Kosilek sued again in 2005, arguing that the hormone treatments, laser hair removal and psychotherapy she has received since Wolf's ruling have not relieved her anxiety and depression.

"I would not want to continue existing like this," Kosilek testified.

Kosilek 's second trial, which began in May 2006, has featured expert testimony from 10 doctors, psychiatrists and psychotherapists. Wolf has not indicated when he will rule.

The Correction Department has spent about $33,000 on two experts it retained to evaluate Kosilek . Both Cynthia Osborne, a Baltimore psychotherapist, and Chester Schmidt, a psychiatry professor at Johns Hopkins University, said Kosilek does not need the surgery. Schmidt's fee alone was $350 per hour.

Two other doctors retained and paid for by the department's outside health provider, the University of Massachusetts Correctional Health Program, at a cost of just under $19,000 said they believe the surgery is medically necessary for Kosilek . Two other doctors who work for the health provider agreed with that.

In addition, two psychiatrists who testified for Kosilek recommended the surgery. A Boston law firm representing Kosilek for free paid for those experts but would not disclose the cost.

In Wisconsin, five inmates sued after the Legislature passed a law that bars Correction Department funding for hormone treatments or sex-change surgery. The case is expected to go to trial in October.

Those who argue against allowing the surgery say it could open the floodgates to other inmates who want sex-change operations or other treatments considered elective.

In Massachusetts, 10 inmates have been diagnosed with gender identity disorder and are receiving hormone treatments. Two other inmates besides Kosilek have asked for sex-change surgery.

Corrections officials say their decision to deny the surgery has nothing to do with costs or the politics of crime. They cite the testimony of their experts and Kosilek herself that her feelings of depression have diminished since she began taking hormones.

Former Commissioner Kathleen Dennehy testified that allowing Kosilek to complete the transformation into a woman would present a security problem. Whether she stays in a male prison or is transferred to a female prison, she could become a target for sexual assault, Dennehy testified.

Dennehy also said prison officials cannot be influenced by Kosilek 's talk of suicide.

"The department does not negotiate or respond to threats of harm or suicide in an effort to barter," she said. "You couldn't run a prison with that kind of leveraging going on."


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-06-26 23:38:26


src

 

[TheDivineMsM]

Update -- er, nothing to update.


In 2002, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Kosilek was entitled to medical treatment for gender identity disorder, but stopped short of ordering the surgery. Kosilek sued again in 2005, arguing that the hormone treatments, laser hair removal and psychotherapy she has received since Wolf's ruling have not relieved her anxiety and depression.


In Massachusetts, 10 inmates have been diagnosed with gender identity disorder and are receiving hormone treatments. Two other inmates besides Kosilek have asked for sex-change surgery.

Corrections officials say their decision to deny the surgery has nothing to do with costs or the politics of crime. They cite the testimony of their experts and Kosilek herself that her feelings of depression have diminished since she began taking hormones.


src
[/I]

These are the most interesting statments I found in the whole story. Basically we are paying for hormone therapy for men that feel like women? How much does that fucking cost and since when did it become our responsibility?
And your telling me that homrmone therapy is more effective than talk therapy when dealing with gender identity disorder? The treatment is to give them what they want? how bout an anitdepressent to deal with depression, daily excersize get the dopamine flowing...How about anti anxiety drugs to help them feel less anxious. WTF?
Umm i think therapy would maybe help them understand...you killed someone (or many or whatever the crime is) your in jail, you dont get what you want to be "happy" Jail isnt about being happy its about punishment...
For Fucks sake man!

 

[poppy1963]

No...the state should not pay for a sex change operation.

 

[Bobmi357]

i'm more curious about why he's "robert" but now going by "michelle." in these instances isn't it traditional to feminize the male name? shouldn't he be roberta?

Well as a Robert, I too would probably pick another name. The ONLY Roberta I ever knew was truly frightening.

I think I'd rather be a Wicked Woman, or even an Bob's Girl, but I'm not ready to give up my Alyx so I'll just have to suffer being a lesbian in a guy's body.



ps. All you lesbians out there that take offense to this, chill. It wasn't meant as an insult. If I wanted to insult you, I would have. I would have called you a midwestyankee or something similar. (Shudders) No one should be called that.

 

[pimpslap]

The ONLY thing the state should be paying for is a bullet behind the scumbags ear.

Prison should be someplace that is FEARED to go to. Not someplace where you get better treatment than most working people.

 

[Cathleen]

It took a while but there's been a ruling...


Federal Judge Orders Sex-Change Operation For Convicted Killer

September 4, 2012 12:58 PM


BOSTON (CBS/AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered state prison officials to provide a taxpayer-funded sex-reassignment surgery to a transgender inmate serving life in prison for murder.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled in the case of Michelle Kosilek, who was born as a man but has received hormone treatments and lives as a woman in an all-male prison.

Robert Kosilek was convicted of murder in the killing of his wife in 1990.

Wolf is believed to be the first federal judge to order prison officials to provide the surgery for a transgender inmate.

Kosilek first sued the Massachusetts Department of Correction 12 years ago.

Two years later, Wolf ruled that Kosilek was entitled to treatment for gender-identity disorder, but stopped short of ordering surgery.

Kosilek sued again in 2005, arguing that the surgery is a medical necessity.

In his ruling Tuesday, Wolf found that surgery is the “only adequate treatment” for Kosilek’s “serious medical need.”

“The court finds that there is no less intrusive means to correct the prolonged violation of Kosilek’s Eighth Amendment right to adequate medical care,” Wolf wrote in his 126-page ruling.

Prison officials have repeatedly cited security risks in the case, saying that allowing her to have the surgery would make her a target for sexual assaults by other inmates.

But Wolf found that the DOC’s security concerns are “either pretextual or can be dealt with by the DOC.”

He said it is up to prison officials to decide how and where to house Kosilek after the surgery.

“We are reviewing the decision and exploring our appellate options,” Department of Corrections spokesperson Diane Wiffin told WBZ-TV.

Senator Scott Brown issued the following statement on the court decision:

“This is an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars. We have many big challenges facing us as a nation, but no where among those issues would I include providing sex change surgery to convicted murderers. I encourage the state to appeal the court’s decision. I look forward to common sense prevailing and the ruling being overturned.”

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)



Read: Judge’s Ruling (.pdf)
http://cbsboston.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/kosilek-order.pdf


Source:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/09/...es-sex-change-operation-for-convicted-killer/



I'm shocked but not at the same time. The operation will probably be within 2 weeks. Michelle may go back to the women's prison where she has been for a long time now.