CALIFORNIA FUNDS 1ST US INMATE SEX REASSIGNMENT

[lars63]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A 57-year-old convicted killer serving a life sentence in California became the first U.S. inmate to receive state-funded sex-reassignment surgery, the prisoner's attorneys confirmed Friday to The Associated Press.

California prison officials agreed in August 2015 to pay for the surgery for Shiloh Heavenly Quine, who was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery for ransom and has no possibility of parole.

Quine's case led the state to become the first to set standards that will allow other transgender inmates to apply to receive state-funded sex-reassignment surgery. More:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 6-14-46-34

[YourGrandpa]

No wonder California is broke.

[Eraser]

State funded... but why?

[Don Carlos]

State funded... but why?

This

[Whiskey 7]

This news item made the Sunday paper here
I know inmates get bored in gaol but to undergo sex change seems extreme.

[1985] Then there was Cathy. I was the hospital security officer at the time and Cathy was on remand for stealing (shoplifting I think). One of my 'duties' was to escort her (him) to and from his (her) prison cell AM/PM. Cathy was employed in the prison hospital and no not as a nurse just another body employed in the hospital for protection from other inmates.

We didn't get too many transgender or want to be prisoners and Cathy was a rare animal in those days.

IMO, we the taxpayer should not be funding the wishes of prisoners in custody. What next, cosmetic surgery, tattoo and university degrees?

[seremtan]

university degrees?

pretty sure Anders Breivik is doing a degree at Oslo University from his cell

[Transient]

I know inmates get bored in gaol but to undergo sex change seems extreme.

You really think they're doing it out of boredom?

What next, cosmetic surgery, tattoo and university degrees?

I would argue that education is actually a good idea. Jail is ostensibly for rehabilitation, right?

[Ganemi]

-

[Transient]

I am American and I know full well what the prison system is like in the country. That's why I used to word "ostensibly".

adjective
1.
outwardly appearing as such; professed; pretended:
an ostensible cheerfulness concealing sadness.

[seremtan]

Jail is ostensibly for rehabilitation, right?

not even ostensibly. the public rhetoric is around 'punishment' and 'protecting society' but it could be argued that if imprisonment is protection for anyone it's for the criminal, not society. society outnumbers the criminal many times over; without a nice safe prison to be kept in, they'd be hanged from the nearest tree, and we'd have endless street violence. the criminal justice system basically ritualises the vendetta and renders it 'safe' (that is, when it isn't intended to be compensatory)

[Ganemi]

I used the word

You cut that out right this instant!

[Transient]

Jail is ostensibly for rehabilitation, right?

not even ostensibly. the public rhetoric is around 'punishment' and 'protecting society' but it could be argued that if imprisonment is protection for anyone it's for the criminal, not society. society outnumbers the criminal many times over; without a nice safe prison to be kept in, they'd be hanged from the nearest tree, and we'd have endless street violence. the criminal justice system basically ritualises the vendetta and renders it 'safe' (that is, when it isn't intended to be compensatory)

I'd agree about that for some crimes, but the government also misuses prisons to lock up people for doing drugs they don't like.

[Whiskey 7]

You really think they're doing it out of boredom?
I would argue that education is actually a good idea. Jail is ostensibly for rehabilitation, right?

1. No, not at all Transient. Besides obvious suicide attempts, I have known of a number of inmates that have harmed themselves for a number of reasons and to get a sex change was never one of them.

Can I put it this way, if you were serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole, would you educate yourself or might you go for a sex change and then be transferred to a female prison? You're inside forever remember!

Look, life in jail here means 10 to 15 and then you can apply for parole. If you've been good there's a good chance of release. To note, there are very few in this country that are never to be released.

2. I am happy for those that need to receive a basic education sure, but criminals getting a higher education at taxpayer cost just doesn't fit with me. I'm comfortable if they pay their own way.

Oh and in my experience rehabilitation in jail is completely up to and the responsibility of the individual. Trust me, the system does not rehabilitate.

[Transient]

It's a shame, because an educated prisoner is less likely to be a repeat offender. The question should be whether the cost of educating a prisoner is outweighed by the savings in not incarcerating the person further.

[Eraser]

Trust me, the system does not rehabilitate.

There's a lot of mixing up of are's and should's in this thread.
No, in the US (and Australia perhaps) the system does not rehabilitate, but it should.
I'm pretty sure that the Norwegian system (and the Dutch system as well, when compared to the US) does a lot better job at rehabilitating people (and getting less repeated offenders as a result).
There's actually a discussion going on here in the Netherlands to promote the use of ankle monitors because it turns out that it's both much cheaper than incarcerating people and it reduces the chances of falling back to old (illegal) behavior. One thing that always goes wrong with these prison discussions is that everyone always first thinks of murderers, rapists and child molesters. But most people in prison are in prison because of minor offenses, or even because of inability to pay fines they've accumulated.

Funny fact: our (Dutch) prisons are actually so empty right now that we're forced to close some of 'em and we're actually housing foreign prisoners here just to fill up the prisons to prevent closure. Oh yeah, important difference to the US: our prisons aren't privately owned/funded, so there's no profit to be made over the backs of prisoners.