Transgendered, Incarcerated Women, An Update

Co-editor David Singleton updates his post chronicling recent developments on transgendered, incarcerated women:

Last month I posted about the Ohio Justice & Policy Center’s victory on behalf of  Antione “Whitney” Lee, a transgender inmate who brought suit against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation (“ODRC”)  to obtain estrogen hormone therapy.  At the time of my last post, OJPC had just won a TRO hearing at which a federal court judge  ordered ODRC to place Ms. Lee on hormone therapy pending a preliminary injunction hearing.  On May 2, 2014, after a two-day hearing, the judge granted a preliminary injunction requiring ODRC to continue to provide Ms. Lee with hormone therapy pending trial.  Ruling from the bench, the court stated that the defendant, Dr. Andrew Eddy, had acted with deliberate indifference – the standard for Eighth Amendment medical claims – in denying estrogen to Ms. Lee. Click here to read the Associated Press’ coverage of the preliminary injunction ruling.  At this time it is unclear whether ODRC will appeal, or whether the case will settle or go to trial.   

Meanwhile in Massachusetts, Michelle Kosilek’s  effort to get the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (“MDOC”) to pay for gender reassignment surgery was back in court last week.  Ms. Kosilek, given the birth name Robert, is  presently serving a life prison term for killing spouse Cheryl Kosilek in 1990.  Earlier this year, a three-judge panel of the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal district judge’s order requiring the  MDOC had to perform and pay for the surgery.  However, the full appeals court voted to reconsider the case and heard arguments on May 8, 2014, as reported by the Associated Press.  Stay tuned