California is the place to be if you’re a criminal. Not only do you, a convicted criminal, get your sex-change surgery paid for by tax-payers if you “identify” as transgender, but you are now mandated to receive your own special flattering undergarments and access to pretty jewelry, hairbrushes and hair accessories!
A federal judge made all this possible on Friday via an order. The Associated Press reports:
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar issued the order in a federal lawsuit that earlier led California to become the first state to provide taxpayer-funded sex reassignment surgery to an inmate.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation also agreed as part of the suit by Shiloh Quine to give transgender inmates access to certain products. Quine, 57, had sex reassignment surgery in January and was transferred from a men’s facility to a women’s prison in Chowchilla. She is serving a life sentence for murder, kidnapping and robbery.
Prison officials are said to be “reviewing” Judge Tigar’s ruling.
Transgender inmates in the state were already awarded special goodies their non-trans counterparts were not, says the AP, but the Friday ruling “expanded that list to include pajamas, nightgowns, robes and scarves.”
Some of these goods, such as special undergarments, were already offered via commissary to trans “male” inmates in women’s prison; Judge Tigar felt this was unfair for the criminals who couldn’t afford the goods.
Of course, the judge’s order completely defies arguments of opposition presented by the corrections department. Officials warned that allowing any inmate to have such clothing could lead to an inmate altering the items to look like “street clothes,” which they say can be helpful for escape plots. Additionally, as noted by a previous judge, the hair clips and jewelry are thought to be a safety risk at a men’s prison, although women’s facilities already have such goods.