Follow-Up!

Yesterday I mentioned the prisoner who is to receive a sex change operation courtesy of the state.  I was wrong about the state – it’s Massachusetts, not Maine.  But never mind that.  Today’s update on the story makes it even more ridiculous.  Here it is:

A convicted murderer in Massachusetts who won the right to get a state-funded sex change is also eligible to have legal fees – expected to top $500,000 – paid as well, a federal judge ruled.  U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ordered the state Department of Correction this month to provide sex-reassignment surgery to Michelle Kosilek.  Wolf found that prison officials had violated Kosilek’s right to protection against cruel and unusual punishment and that the surgery is the “only adequate treatment” for Kosilek’s gender-identity disorder.  Wolf entered an order Sunday that Kosilek is also entitled to legal fees.

Am I insensitive or is there something wrong with this picture?

Here’s an additional tidbit on a related subject:

A condemned Ohio inmate who weighs 480 pounds wants his upcoming execution delayed because his weight could lead to a “tortuous and lingering death.”  He said his weight, vein access, scar tissue and other medical problems raise the likelihood his executioners would encounter severe problems.

I’d cancel his execution on the grounds that I think it is wrong for the state to murder its citizens, but not because the guy is chubby.

Geez!