Corrections and the Transgender Inmate

[Rhinox]

Folks, meet Thomas Lamb,

Kidnapping occurred 50 years ago

Fifty years ago this week, on Jan. 15, 1970, ex-convict Thomas P. Lamb used a gun to kidnap 18-year-old Patricia Childs from the parking lot of an Overland Park shopping mall. That abduction and th…

www.cjonline.com

This past week Lamb, now 81, underwent gender reassignment surgery paid for by Kansas Taxpayers. He has now been moved to the Kansas Women's prison, Topeka Correctional Facility.
None of the inmates nor security staff are to know about this person's history nor previous gender. In fact, the only reason anyone knows is that medical staff had to be informed (over the objections of several highly placed administrators) due to them being post surgery and requiring an extended stay in the clinic before being introduced to the general population.

What are your thoughts on this? Is this an acceptable use of taxpayer dollars? What about housing this individual with a female population?

Here's where I'm at. Yes, this person is 81, but is apparently in very good health. They are over 6 foot tall, 200lbs and fit. Their crimes were specific against women. Kidnapping, rape, and killing. They also have a history of escape.
While I have no problem whatsoever with the trans population, I do strongly object to tax dollars being used for gender reassignment surgery at this point. I am even more against this individual being housed with the female population considering their crimes. Add to it the secrecy from KDOC, hiding their identity, their crimes, and their history from security.

But, at the same time, this does beg the question, what do we do with trans inmates? Where should they be housed? Should there be gender reassignment surgery available to the inmate population? Who should pay for it? Thoughts?

 

[Patch]

I think it's important to ask, what sort of contact will this individual have with the rest of the inmate population will be? Because a lot can go wrong with a situation like that, and it has.

As for the funding of the surgery, there's some context needed there. Was anything required of the inmate to get the surgery? Was there an application process? I am kind of assuming that if you're in prison, the state foots the bill for your healthcare, and for trans people, transition is healthcare. But it's not like having healthcare is an immediate ticket to having surgery, because if it was, I wouldn't be struggling to afford it myself and I'm a law-abiding citizen working a full-time job.

 

[abates]

The crimes in question were 50 years ago. The last escape was in 1987. At this point, I think they're irrelevant unless she's still assaulting people in prison more recently Which isn't clear from that article.

 

[Rhinox]

I've gotten some more information on the surgery. Apparently it was a result of a federal lawsuit filed by Lamb.
It is my understanding that once they're cleared from surgery they'll be general population.

I don't know their recent prison history. KDOC has scrubbed their original KASPER page and their new one only lists the move to TCF. There's no telling what they've done recently. It is my understanding that they were one of the masterminds behind several of the recent Lansing riots. So, age or no, there's still some issue there.

 

[Sjogre]

Oi. My understanding of the United States' incarceration system is that it has issues from top to bottom, so I don't know how to address that.

More narrowly....

1) Should prisoners have access to healthcare? Yes. I don't think that there's really any other answer here. American healthcare is terrible and overpriced, but that's a separate thing.

2) Should transitioning be covered by healthcare? Also yes.

Which brings us to the third question...

3) Should trans inmates be incarcerated alongside prisoners of the same gender? Hmmmn. Honestly, a lot of people in prisons hate each other, and it's already dangerous. Does being transgender make someone more dangerous or put them in more danger than everything else? I'd assume not, overall, but I'm not an expert.

I think that should be covered by the more general question; Can the prison protect the inmates from each other?

 

[Rhinox]

No. No they cannot.

 

[Patch]

An individual with a history of violent crime against women would be a risk to put in the general population of a female prison.

But post-op trans women are at risk in the general population of a male prison, which is why it's important not to put them there.

What other options does that leave?

 

[KidTDragon]

Solitary? (This is the day I decided to reveal how little I know about the U.S.'s prison system.)

 

[Ungnome]

Unfortunately, I believe that's often the case. Isolating prisoners for their own safety might not be true solitary, but it's pretty close given that humans, well most of them, NEED regular interaction with other humans to maintain their sanity and emotional stability.

 

[Rhinox]

I do wonder what the future holds for trans inmates.
prisons have made allowances for inmates convicted of particular crimes, specifically sex crimes. They keep them (or are supposed to) isolated from general pop, keeping them in their own pods and giving them their own space.
Is this the future for trans inmates? If gender reassignment surgery is going to be required if inmates demand it, should they have their own, specific prisons? Or areas within prisons where they will be segregated from general pop?

 

[Patch]

The UK did try out dedicating a wing of a women's prison specifically for trans inmates: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47434730