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Prison Boss: Sex Change Poses Security Risk
by The Associated Press
Posted: May 9, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) Allowing a convicted
killer to get a sex-change operation would pose insurmountable safety and
security problems for the state prison system, the Massachusetts corrections
chief said.
Harold
Clarke, who took over the department in November, said
allowing the surgery for Michelle Kosilek could make her a
target for assault by other inmates. He said prison officials
also have concerns that Kosilek - who is serving a life
sentence without parole - could try to escape if she is taken
out of state for the surgery.
Clarke
outlined his opposition to the surgery in court papers filed
this week, mirroring arguments made by his predecessor,
Kathleen Dennehy.
Kosilek, 58,
was born a man, Robert, but underwent a legal name change to
Michelle in 1993 and has been living as a woman in an all-male
prison in Norfolk. Robert Kosilek was sentenced to life in
prison for murdering wife Cheryl in 1990.
Kosilek sued
the Department of Corrections in 2000, claiming the system's
refusal to allow the state-funded surgery violated her Eighth
Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.
U.S.
District Judge Mark Wolf ruled in 2002 that prison officials
had failed to adequately treat Kosilek's gender-identity
disorder but did not order surgery. Wolf found that Kosilek
had not shown that the correction commissioner had shown
"deliberate indifference" to her medical needs.
Kosilek sued
again in 2005, saying the hormone treatments, laser hair
removal and psychotherapy she has received have not been
enough to relieve her anxiety and depression.
In a
three-page statement filed in court, Clarke said he does not
doubt Kosilek's belief that the surgery could reduce her
anxiety.
"However,
based on my review of the designated trial testimony and my
many years of experience as a corrections professional, I
believe that the safety and security concerns presented by the
prospect of undertaking sex reassignment surgery for Michelle
Kosilek are insurmountable," Clarke said.
Kosilek's
lawyer, Frances Cohen, wouldn't comment on Clarke's
opposition.
©365Gay.com 2008
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