BOSTON — The governor of Massachusetts is not so sure the federal appeals court judge who found that to leave a convicted murderer to serve out her life sentence as the gender of her birth – male – would be constitutionally prohibited cruel and unusual punishment got it right. He is reviewing the decision and deciding whether or not to file an appeal, while also acknowledging the judge’s record as “thoughtful and scholarly.”
U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf, who ruled that the surgery was medically necessary, said that not treating Michelle Kosilek rises to the level of cruel and unusual punishment. Indeed, the prison system in Massachusetts has, to a degree, already allowed Kosilek to live in a lockdown for men as a woman. It has been reported that she has also received female hormone treatments.
Kosilek murdered his wife, when he was still living as a man named Robert Kosilek.
