Moore urges appeal of sex-change ruling

[Shana A]

Moore urges appeal of sex-change ruling
By Mike Gleason/Daily News staff
Milford Daily News
Posted Sep 06, 2012 @ 12:07 AM

http://www.milforddailynews.com/topstories/x764810100/Moore-urges-appeal-of-sex-change-ruling

UXBRIDGE —

State Sen. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, has joined other legislators in decrying a U.S. District Court ruling that granted a sex-change operation to a convicted killer, though others claim the surgery is medically necessary.

In a decision issued Tuesday, Judge Mark Wolf ordered the state Department of Correction to provide the surgery to Michelle Kosilek, who is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder of Cheryl Kosilek, his wife. The ruling said the department violated the Eighth Amendment (prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment) by not providing Kosilek the surgery.

On Wednesday, Moore announced that he had joined with other legislators in signing a letter, drafted by State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, urging the department to appeal the decision.

"Obviously, it's very disturbing," he said. "A federal judge is attempting to order the state to spend taxpayer money on a sex-change operation."

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Legislators seeking appeal to prison sex-change ruling

Posted: Thursday, September 6, 2012 10:45 pm

BY STEPHEN PETERSON SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/legislators-seeking-appeal-to-prison-sex-change-ruling/article_0b1ca252-78a4-5fd2-b9a4-b38db4dc0027.html

A group of 50 Massachusetts legislators, including several Attleboro area lawmakers, has asked the state Department of Correction to appeal a ruling from a federal court judge who ordered prison officials to provide sex-reassignment surgery to a transgender inmate from Mansfield.

State Sen. Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Republican from Gloucester, said the group is "greatly troubled" by the court's finding that the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment requires the state to provide the surgery to Michelle Kosilek, who is serving a life sentence for the 1990 murder of his wife Cheryl in their Mansfield condominium.

The group sent a letter Thursday to DOC Commissioner Luis Spencer. The letter argues that if the ruling is left standing, it "will compel an absurd action" by the department.