Boy, I'll tell you - I've heard of outrageous tales involving criminals and the luxuries some states accord them in prison, but this story out of Boston may just take the cake... According to an Associated Press article from May 30, a 57-year-old man who has been serving a life sentence since 1990 for the strangling murder of his wife is now demanding that the state of Massachusetts pay for his SEX CHANGE OPERATION.
Claiming that keeping him trapped in a man's body is the equivalent of "cruel and unusual punishment," Robert Kosilek has sued in Federal court to force the state to foot the bill for the sex reassignment both he and at least one psychiatrist testifying on his behalf claim he's (she's?) entitled to under state law. What's just as appalling as the notion of using tax dollars to swap out some psycho's sex organs is what taxpayers in Massachusetts have already footed the bill for on this kook's gender-bent behalf. In accordance with a 2002 federal court decision that determined Kosilek was indeed entitled to treatment for his gender identity disorder,
"Michelle" (what Kosilek prefers to be called) has received:
- Extensive psychotherapy
- Female hormone treatments (which caused him to develop breasts)
- Even laser hair removal to make him appear more feminine!
Pardon me for being hard-boiled, but I thought prisoners (especially murderous lifers with no chance at parole) were "entitled" to only the bare minimum of necessary care and consideration -- not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of state-sanctioned help in becoming the opposite sex...
I though the whole point behind prison was that you DON'T get what you want (it's kind of like a punishment that way, you know?), and that you were kept from being a menace to society with as little burden to taxpayers as possible.
But I guess I'm just "old school." According to the AP article, Robert/Michelle Kosilek is suing the state on the grounds that at least two of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections own expert psychiatrists have examined him in the past and concluded that the sex-change operation is "medically necessary" and entitled under the state's statutes.
At least one of these has testified that Kosilek will kill herself if she doesn't get her way...
Here's the real kicker in all this -- besides the waste of tax money and blatant bastardization of our criminal justice system, I mean... Giving Kosilek the sex-change surgery might solve one person's problem (sort of), but it would create problems for just about everyone else, according to the DOC's attorneys.
Think about it: If the Kennedy state caves in and turns this creep's "outie" into an "innie," where would they put him -- er, her? If they stick her back in with the men, she'd be in constant danger of sexual assault, owing to her new, virginal juicy bits. And if they put her in the women's prison, they'd be endangering the lives of the inmates by penning them up with a chromosomally male criminal with a known history of murderous violence toward women!
There's just no precedent for this sort of thing -- and the only solution would be to create a new prison system solely for gender-confused crooks... Yeah, I'm sure THAT would be popular with the taxpayers.
Here's what I think should happen: First, they should deny this crackpot his wish, strip him of his hormone treatments, graft all the hair back onto his body, shave his head, take away his makeup and razors, then force him to serve out his sentence as the beast they convicted.
In light of the current situation, that would be money well spent... Problem solved.
After, all, it's supposed to be PRISON, not therapy.
Never "confused" about what prisons are for,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
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