Inmate Granted Right to Sex Change

Transsexual convicted murderer Michelle Kosilek is entitled to a taxpayer-funded sex change operation to treat her gender identity disorder, a federal appeals court decided Friday. The three-judge panel’s 2-1 ruling is the first of its kind, upholding a U.S. District Judge’s 2012 determination that a sex change operation the only sufficient treatment for Kosilek, who strangled his wife, Sheryl, to death in 1990 while living as a man named Robert. That judge also argued that not providing the surgery would be a violation of Kosilek’s right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.