Appeals Court Says No to Sex Change Surgery for Mass. Prisoner and Former Mansfield Resident

Former Mansfield resident and convicted murderer Michelle Kosilek, born as Robert, is not entitled to a taxpayer-funded sex change surgery according to a ruling from a federal appeals court.

On Tuesday, the First US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the September 2012 decision from State District Court Judge Mark Wolf ordering the operation after finding surgery was the only proper treatment for Kosilek.

The appeals court said it had been asked to determine if denying Kosilek the surgery was a violation of the Eighth Amendment, banning cruel and unusual punishment.

“After carefully considering the community standard of medical care, the adequacy of the provided treatment, and the valid security concerns articulated by the DOC, we conclude that the district court erred and that the care provided to Kosilek by the DOC does not violate the Eighth Amendment. We therefore reverse the district court’s grant of injunctive relief, and we remand with instructions to dismiss the case,” the court said in an opinion written by Judge Juan R. Torruella.

Kosilek, a former resident of Mansfield, is serving a lifetime sentence for strangling his wife in 1990. The body of Cheryl McCaul was found on May 20, 1990 in the back seat of her car at the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro.

Kosilek was convicted of first degree murder with no possibility of parole during his trial in 1993.

Diagnosed with gender identity disorder, Kosilek identifies as a female and originally sued the Massachusetts Department of Corrections in 2006, arguing that it’s unwillingness to provide sex reassignment surgery was cruel and unusual punishment.

Photo Credit: WHDH