Michelle Kosilek will get his Robert parts removed on the state’s dime.
In 1990, a man named Robert Kosilek shot and killed his wife Cheryl. He was sentenced to spend the rest of his natural life in prison in Norfolk, Massachusetts. Somewhere along the line, he was diagnosed with gender identity disorder and sued the Massachusetts Departmen of Corrections for treatment of his disorder, which includes a very expensive sex change operation and hormone treatments. After 12 years of lawsuits, a judge has ruled that the state of Massachusetts has to pay for Robert/Michelle Kosilek’s sex change operation.
“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,” wrote US District Court Judge Mark Wolf wrote in a 126-page ruling.
Judge Wolf found that the $20,000 surgery is the “only adequate treatment” for the murderer’s “serious medical need.” DOC officials have argued that getting the sex change surgery would make Kosilek a target for other prisoners looking to commit sexual assault. The judge said that was the DOC’s problem, and left the issue of how to house the transitioning male-to-female inmate in its prisons. Judge Wolf is the first federal judge to rule in favor of a prisoner wishing to have gender reassignment surgery while in prison; Michelle Kosilek has undergone years of hormone therapy, laser hair removal, and psychotherapy while in prison.
Tags: unusual court cases, unusual lawsuits, prison sex change lawsuit, prison sex change, robert kosilek, michelle kosilek, robert kosilek to get sex change to become michelle, robert to michelle kosilek, mark wolf, us district court rules in favor of michelle kosilek, us district court judge mark wolf, Massachusetts, gender reassignment surgery, sex change to be paid for by prison officials
