Thursday, June 08, 2006

Should the state pay for a prisoner’s operation?

Robert Kosilek is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife. He claims to be suffering from gender identity disorder and, unless he receives a sex change operation, may commit suicide. He has sued the Commonwealth of Massachusetts seeking the funds to pay for the operation.

The medical care required for our aging prison population is another problem we face, particularly as we have few compunctions about putting people in jail. (We have the highest percentage of our population living in jails of any developed nation.) Does the state – i.e., you and me - pay for major operations, such as cancer? Would it pay for liposuction if the inmate claimed his weight was causing him too much grief? Should it pay for a sex change operation?

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