Federal judge says California has to pay for inmate’s sex-change surgery
California must pay for gender reassignment surgery for an inmate convicted of murder, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Thursday.
Surgery is “the only adequate medical treatment for her gender dysphoria,” said U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar in his written opinion. Hence, not providing it for Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, 51, would violate her constitutional rlights.
The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times have stories.
Norsworthy was convicted as a man of second-degree murder and has been serving a life sentence since 1987.
She is currently housed in a men’s prison and prison officials have expressed concern that allowing the sex-change operation would pose safety issues. That would be true for Norsworthy herself and for other inmates, given her history of domestic violence, if she is moved to a women’s prison, officials say.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may appeal the ruling. If it is not reversed, Norsworthy would be the first inmate in California and one of the first in the nation to have state-funded sex-change surgery.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “En banc 1st Circuit ruling nixes state-funded sex-change surgery for prison inmate”
