MICHELLE L. KOSILEK, Plaintiff, v. LUIS S. SPENCER, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Defendant.

Read the Court Order here

This is “an unprecedented court order requiring that the defendant Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction (the “DOC”) provide him with sex reassignment surgery to treat his major mental illness, severe gender identity disorder” (p. 3). Sections following a summary are: the applicable standards; findings of fact and conclusions of law—the Eighth Amendment analysis—Kosilek has a serious medical need, sex reassignment surgery is the only adequate treatment for Kosilek, Kosilek has satisfied the subjective prong of the deliberate indifference test, the defendant’s stated security concerns are pretextual and do not justify denying Kosilek sex reassignment surgery, and the defendant’s deliberate indifference will continue, and therefore, Kosilek is entitled to a narrowly-tailored injunction; and the order. “In this case, Kosilek has proven that his Eighth Amendment rights have been violated by the DOC’s refusal to provide the sex reassignment surgery prescribed by its doctors. The court is ordering the defendant to take all of the steps reasonably necessary to provide Kosilek that treatment as promptly as possible” (p. 21).