A lawsuit by an inmate asking the state to pay for his sex-change operation can go forward, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn said Tuesday that prison officials should allow Mark Brooks, who goes by the name Jessica Lewis, to talk to doctors about his suffering from genetic identity disorder, or transsexualism.
Brooks, 34, an inmate serving a 50-year sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility for murder, sued the state in 2000 alleging prison officials repeatedly failed to provide him with medical treatment such as hormone therapy, electrolysis and breast implants.
Brooks also alleged that his due process rights were violated due to prison officials' handling of his complaints.
State policy bans inmates from starting sex-change procedures while incarcerated, but makes exceptions for those who began the process before they were jailed.
Kahn rejected the state's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying prisons are obligated to give inmates suffering from a medical disorder some form of treatment based on an evaluation by a doctor.
"Surely inmates with diabetes, schizophrenia or any other serious medical need are not denied treatment simply because their conditions were not diagnosed before incarceration," Kahn wrote.
A spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services, James Flateau, said the decision compared "apples to pears." Flateau said the prison system provides adequate medical treatment for inmates, but that does not include elective or cosmetic surgery.
"We have never paid for a sex-change operation because it's not necessary to keep you alive," Flateau said.
He estimated there were "no more than a couple of dozen inmates" who are currently receiving estrogen since they had been on hormone therapy prior to entering prison.
A spokesman for the state attorney general's office, Paul Larrabee, said the state is considering an appeal of the decision. "We're reviewing the matter with a fine tooth comb and we will do everything we can to contest it," he said.
Brooks was convicted in 1990 of murdering college student Dean Lockshiss in Putnam County. Brooks said he did not seek medical attention until after he arrived in prison and began reading about transsexualism.
