Federal judge orders California prison to grant inmate sex change News
Federal judge orders California prison to grant inmate sex change

[JURIST] US District Judge Jon Tigar [official profile] for the Northern District of California issued a decision [opinion, PDF] on Thursday ordering the California Department of Corrections to grant a transgender inmate’s sex reassignment surgery. Michelle-Lael Norsworthy began living as a woman in the 1990s while in state prison, where she was later diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria. Ms. Norsworthy received counseling and hormone therapy from the department of corrections, but her request for sex reassignment surgery (SRS) was denied by the department, who cited a policy against approving SRS as a treatment for transgender inmates. Ms. Norsworthy brought a suit seeking a preliminary injunction, which would require the department of corrections to grant her request for SRS. In his decision, Judge Tigar stated that the California Department of Corrections violated Eighth Amendment [text] protections against cruel and unusual punishment, and the Equal Protection clause within the Fourteenth Amendment [text]. Should the Department of Corrections comply with the court order, Ms. Norsworthy would be the first inmate to undergo the SRS procedure.

The fight for LGBT rights is currently hotly contested and extremely salient. Last week the Indiana Senate approved a “religious freedom” bill [JURIST report, SB 101] that allows business owners to turn away patrons based on sexual orientation for the purpose of preventing undue burden on business’ owners religious beliefs. Earlier this month the Oregon and Iowa [legislative materials] legislatures passed [JURIST report] measures that would prevent health care professionals from providing counseling intended to change a persons sexual orientation, also known as “conversion therapy.” The day before, a transgender inmate from Massachusetts filed a petition [cert. petition, PDF] for certiorari to the Supreme Court [official website], asking [JURIST report] a ruling that denied her the ability to obtain SRS to be overturned. While Utah lawmakers proposed [JURIST report] a bill [text] earlier this month that would add protections against LGBT discrimination in the workplace and housing, the Arkansas legislature passed [JURIST report] a bill [SB 202] that prohibits such protections to be utilized.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.