WARNING: NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH.
A prisoner is suing Oregon Department of Corrections Director Max Williams and 16 other state prison officials for ignoring what he calls his severe case of gender-identity disorder.
According to a civil-rights lawsuit filed Nov. 21 at U.S. District Court in Portland, 27-year-old Jorey Lee Brewis—aka Rebekah Katherine—was so troubled that he cut out his testicles in his cell and mutilated them.
Brewis was sentenced to 70 months in 2000 for robbery. But he’s had his original sentence extended by seven years for a series of convictions while behind bars for assault, carrying a weapon and supplying contraband. He is currently being held at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla.
Brewis refers to himself as a female throughout the lawsuit, which says his discomfort with his male body is so severe that he’s tried suicide four times since 2002 and has tried to castrate himself 13 times.
“Plaintiff grieves deeply over hair loss due to male pattern baldness caused by testosterone, and also grief over restriction from shaving her body free of the men’s length hair growing on whole body,” the hand-written lawsuit says. “This disjunction between body and mind causes plaintiff everyday misery and compels desires to castrate the testicles.”
The lawsuit claims prison officials knew of Brewis’ disorder through his repeated attempts to kill and castrate himself, but that they denied Brewis treatment.
On Sept. 18, the lawsuit says Brewis castrated himself in his cell using his fingernails “partially based on study of the Gray’s Anatomy book that teaches castration.” It took five hours, involved “extreme mental suffering,” and “a whole roll of toilet paper was used to absorb all of the blood,” the lawsuit says.
“Upon eviscerating the testicles, plaintiff tied off and ligated the epididymus on each bare testicle with hair ties and two rubber bands,” the lawsuit says. Afterward, “plaintiff shredded the deadened testicles and mutilated them to ensure they were dead,” according to the lawsuit.
Brewis, who is originally from Ashland, seeks immediate treatment for his disorder and $10 million in damages.
Oregon Department of Corrections spokeswoman Wendy Hatfield spoke with WWire on Thursday morning. She says she can’t discuss Brewis’ case because of medical privacy concerns, but she defends the DOC’s safety record.
“Part of the Department’s mission is to be responsible for the safety and welfare of its employees and inmates, which we take very seriously,” Hatfield says. She adds that DOC has no specific policy on how to deal with inmates who identify as transgender.
On Nov. 29 Brewis requested the case be dismissed so he could complete the DOC’s formal grievance process—a requirement before proceeding with a lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman granted that request and dismissed the case Dec. 4.
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What is he complaining about. We do vasectomies in our office and this is exactly how we do them …well, we don’t actually shred the testicles afterwards..
but we do use hair ties and rubber bands.
Yeah but you usually don’t get the patient to perform the vasectomy on themselves without anaesthetic..
damn…no rusty tin can lid handy? Oh, that would be a weapon. drat.
I’m sure Director Williams will be sympathetic, as he lost his testicles during his Legislative career.
That was the funniest—an truest—comment on a blog that I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Too bad this highly squared away individual decided on a career in crime. Had he been a lawabiding citizen, he would be out in the world free to pursue the whacking off (unfortunate phrase, that) of whatever body part(s) he wants to.
He would also have the feeling of personal achievement that comes with paying your own way through life.
Funny he didn’t choose that course.
What’s funny about it, Mr. Compassionate Conservative?
It’s fascinating to me that whenever a reader suggests a person "pay their own way" immediately someone responds with a swipe at "conservatives." Is paying "your own way" a completely foreign idea to bleeding heart liberals?
OMG, is it a slow news day at WW or what? With everything else going on in the world, are we supposed to feel pity or glee or see anything newsworthy about some crook doing some amateur surgery in the slammer?
it is cruel to keep this person alive. Allow it to transcend to the next level of existence since this life is not adaquate.
WW is a little behind on the facts. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed this case shortly after it was filed, because she had not yet exhausted the prison grievance process, as required by law.
You are correct, the case was dismissed Dec. 4. Thanks for bringing me up to date and apologies for the omission.
Actuallly, some other states have paid to treat individuals with gender identity disorder. It seems a whole lot more cost effective treating the disorder rather than running this inmate to the emergency department to repair the damage she does to herself.
Probably not. A few stitches to repair the damage he does to himself isn’t all that expensive.
Paying for an operation to try to ‘fix’ (another unfortunate term, huh?) this disturbed individual isn’t likely to help longterm.
Well since he/she is no longer hung – perhaps he/she should be !
Wow. Just Wow. First off, it is generally a good idea when writing a story about a Transgender person to use the prefered pronoun. I.E. She in this case.
Secondly, these are some offensive comments.Logic and Kong’s comments are especially offensive. Read a book.
It is generally accepted practice to refer to people’s gender using biological criteria.
That is what was done here. Reinforcing the disorder isn’t going to help this guy.
Wow. Just wow. First off, you idiot, HE is a MAN. All HE did was remove HIS testicles – in a very brutal, insane, and idiotic manner. I have read many, many books; maybe you should stop reading them and enter into reality for a little bit.
These are offensive comments? I find your stupidity just as alarming as the story. HE chose to do this to HIMSELF. HE is a criminal. HE dropped the case because even HE realized how stupid it was. I have no sympathy for idiots (such as yourself) nor insane idiots, such as the MAN in the article.
sounds like some one has their scrotum in a knot
Gender Identity Disorder is a dissassociative disorder. He is not a woman because he thinks he is anymore than thinking you’re the prince of Sweden actually makes you the prince of Sweden. It’s a disorder, and playing along with it by calling him "she" is only feeding his illness and helping to further remove him from the reality of his actual sex.
This reminds me of a joke
When asked what was the most painful part of having a sex change from a man to a women, the patient replied. It wasn’t the breast enhancement, it wasn’t the penis removal, it was when they stuck that tube in my ear and sucked out half my brain.
Not to cool dude!
This person has no gender disorder. This person is simply insane. If they had treated his insanity, these insane ideas of his would have dissapeared.
Well at least he didn’t eat them with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
Jail is intended to be a form of punishment, not a get rich quick scheme. Had he not committed the crimes he wouldn’t have been imprisoned in the first place.
Tough, HE should have thought of all of this before committing a crime that resulted in an extended prison sentence. HE committed these crimes as a male and HE should serve out HIS sentence as a MALE, then, and only then, should HE be able to go out and continue with some form of gender reassignment procedure on HIS own dime. Myself and a large percentage of the population are sick and tired of the bogus lawsuits that prisoners are allowed to get away with.
People seem to think that by empathizing with capital letters the wrong pronoun enough times, that it will somehow make them right.
Gender Identity Disorder is recognized by the medical and psychological community as a real disorder that requires treatment no less than any other physical or mental medical issue. This treatment involves drugs, therapy, and surgery.
Prejudice and ignorance should not impact ANY medical treatment no matter how distasteful you find it personally.
If I didn’t like schizophrenic people, that wouldn’t give me the right to deny them treatment based on my own personal feelings.
If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. You could do about five minutes of research at your local convenient google search box and come away with an idea of what the reality is, not just your own prejudice. Or stay ignorant and spout your own belief, confident in the fact that ignorance and personal prejudice is, indeed, bliss. The author of this article seemed to think this was the way to go.
Homosexuality itself was recognized in the DSM until a few years back. Then it was changed. The fact that this gender bender confusion profusion is in there now doesn’t exactly mean much to most rational folks.
BTW, treatment of a MENTAL disorder with surgery? I don’t think I am aware of too awful many MENTAL disorders that are treated with surgery.
If he gets the Willy and The Twins removed, will the mental disorder go away? I kinda doubt it.
My guess is that ‘mental’ is a term that will be mentioned early and often in the story of thus guy’s life. No matter what ’surgery’ is involved.
Your name seems to sum you up completely, as you are probably the most blissful person to have ever lived, since it is obvious that you are completely ignorant! It is people like you that are helping the world go down the tubes with your love everybody, no matter what, attitude. You think that by giving someone a stern talking too, they will automatically conform to the rules of society, well, i hate to have to be the one to tell you, but you have to enforce those laws, unfortunately, sometimes in a harsh manner to get the message across that this kind of crap is not acceptable. You ever heard of an old saying from a tv show, "Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time". Like i said earlier, if this clown wanted to become a woman, he should have done it before he committed his crime, or been patient enough to wait until he was out of prison and then get a job to pay for his surgery, because that kind of thing should in NO WAY be paid for by the tax payers money, but to be kind and try and understand your side of this arguement, if you hear of any more like this nut-bar, who want to become a woman, and you can get the Warden’s approval, i will show up at the prison with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s to numb the pain and a Meat Cleaver to operate and a needle and thread so he can sew it up and sterilize it with the J.D. and that should make all of you bleeding hearts shut the hell up and go find something useful to do, like fertilizing a tree to make more Oxygen. What say you, DEAL?
I sympathize with people who have gender identity disorder. It must truly suck to feel like you’re living in someone else’s body, but the fact of the matter is, you aren’t actually living in someone else’s body – this is merely the delusional aspect of the disorder making you believe that you are.
There are dozens upon dozens of similar dissassociative disorders, including people who feel their limbs don’t belong to them, people who think they’re royalty, people who think they’re other people and the list goes on.
Nobody should feel obligated to call someone "King Steve of the Royal Nation of Guatemala" because that’s what he thinks he is, and nobody should feel obligated to ignore biological reality and play along with GID sufferers.
"Gender Identity Disorder is recognized by the medical and psychological community as a real disorder that requires treatment no less than any other physical or mental medical issue. This treatment involves drugs, therapy, and surgery."
Not when your a criminal, and not on my dime. I agree with Boomer…the crimes were committed as a man, the sentence should be served as a man. I dont care what crazy things other people do. Just dont make me pay for it.
It’s too bad that prison guards didn’t save the testicles before he shredded them. We could have extracted semen from them, and impregnated dozens of women with his seed. This world needs many more people like Ms Brewis! I want to marry him/her/it…. oh, forget it….
I feel like a platypus inside. So from now on call me Mr. Platypus. To hell with human law, make me tax exempt. And someone get me a lawyer , so I can sue the state I live in for not flying me to Australia where I am supposed to be living.
I think that they should drop him, yes him, in a hole and leave him there. If he did not want to be in trouble he should have not done wrong. Now he thinks that he should get paid because he is a nut ball? to dang bad. Hit him with a hammer. right between the eyes.
Now that he has done this does this not mean that he is qualified to be Senate majority leader?
"…Her Own Testicles…"
Contradiction in terms, no?
Boo-hoo… poor prisoner wants someone else to pay just because he/she/it couldn’t stand being a man? I would say "grow a pair and be a man" but we already see what happened there. What a stupid idiot.
IMHO, the state should bring him up on charges of practicing medicine without a license.
Now, that was good…
URNidiot: Thank you for your in depth and detailed rantings. I will be sure to treasure them in my pure bigotry file.
The things one forfeits in prison are freedom, choice et al. Should one forfeit safety, mental health, physical health? It is easy to sit back and say criminals are criminals, they should and do suffer. The fact is we all commit crimes to varying degrees every day. We are always ready to hang em high, until we ourselves have our heads in the noose.
For all we know the crimes were committed relating to this persons GID. In that case the only viable course of action would be resolution of the problem. (This is merely hypothetical).
We are all human beings first and foremost. Flaws and all. How about we try treating each other that way.
Who the hell are you to tell me that I commit crimes to any degree on any day? Apparently, you have chosen to bond with this idiot because of three things: 1) he is an idiot, such as yourself, 2) you both break the law on a continual basis, and 3) you are both insane.
You can place my response wherever you would like; if you need, I will be happy to tell you where I would like you to file them. Again, HE did this to HIMSELF. HE also chose to break the law and now you expect me to pay for HIS insanity? No one asked him to break the law. I would also posit that, if he has such a huge issue of GID, then why didn
First off, Brewis didn’t decide she wanted to become a woman IN JAIL. Countless studies of GID show that the condition exists from a very young age, and that most transitioned adults say they have always identified with their preferred gender, even before puberty. The state should NOT pay for a gender reassignment process, god no; they are expensive and can be risky. However, insinuating that Brewis did this as a get-rich-quick scheme is ridiculous. She should have received counseling before this incident occurred so she could have planned out her transition process for after she was released from prison. Oh, and Boomer? That "love everybody, no matter what" attitude you seem to despise so much? Borrowed that from Jesus, thanks.
URNidiot:
You have never cross walked? Walked in front of the MAX? Forgot to signal? These are all violations of the law. You are ranting into hyperbole.
I have never said that she should not be held responsible. You should also be held responsible for what you say. You don’t know anything about me but yet you are spewing forth a whole lot of venom just because I have a differing opinion.
Furthermore, we all pay for things we don’t believe in. It is called Taxes. Suck it up. I don’t believe in the war we are in, but I still have to pay for it.
And lastly, you say that She should have sought treatment earlier. Well maybe she did. You don’t know the details any more than I do, but you sure seem to think you have all the answers.
Ranting into hyperbole… Yes, you do need to read some, begin with the dictionary.
The venom comes from being sick of hearing about how everything anyone does is not that person’s fault. I am disagreeing with you not because of your differing opinion, but because your opinion is idiotic and has no basis in reality. This IS his fault, and his situation IS his fault. Call it whatever you want, but the United Blamers of America are really good at telling everyone why nothing is that person’s fault and have a whole list of people or organizations to shift blame. You can either look at the truth, or you can do what you have been doing and continue to live in your shrouded world where everything is no one’s fault.
You probably think he should never have been in jail to begin with. It was someone (or something) else’s fault that he was there. Oh, wait, I don’t have to put those words in your mouth, you said them yourself.
Paying taxes is the highlight of my year. The low-point of my year, however, is watching those taxes being used for idiots such as this whackjob that decided to remove his testicles and then try to get rich. I support the United States of America, and gladly pay taxes to support this country.
I also have deployed three times to the war that you don’t believe in, and paid taxes while I was there, too. Sit still and secure in your home and bitch and complain about the money being used to keep you secure. Makes sense to me.
And lastly, if he sought treatment and didn’t get it, then don’t you think that it was because the doctors decided that he actually had no disorder? When have you ever seen a doctor that refused treatment to a patient that truly needed it? Oh, wait, you are a part of the United Blamers of America, I am sure you have a whole list of people who you believe needed to use my tax dollars inappropriately, but were refused… Why were they refused? Because real people found that the procedures were not needed and the supposed conditions were not valid.
I invite you to join the real world whenever you are ready. I would love to see the population of the United Blamers of America decline. I think most people that live in the United States of America would like to see that.
"It must truly suck to feel like you’re living in someone else’s body, but the fact of the matter is, you aren’t actually living in someone else’s body – this is merely the delusional aspect of the disorder making you believe that you are."
Um, folks? Trans people aren’t DELUSIONAL. They know what kind of body they are living in, they know it is theirs, and they know that certain attributes of their body do not match, on a deep level, the gender they feel themselves to be. If a person is trying to remove her testicles (no oxymoron, there are plenty of women with testicles), she clearly knows that she has testicles.
Look, I don’t know the facts regarding why she was in jail in the first place, but regardless she deserves proper medical attention. Given that she was in such deep distress that she spent five hours trying to remove sensitive, nerve-rich body parts, it seems clear that she was not give the care she needed. Have some compassion.
How dare the author of this piece refer to Rebekah as a he? ANY basic training in queer issues would tell this "reporter" that it is proper (according to both APA and MLA styles) to refer to a person using their chosen pronoun, be that he, she, they, or ze.
If he want’s practice at being a lady, I think he’s probably at the right place. Why should the state have to pay. I’m sure they can find plenty of prisoners willing to perform the surgery and plenty of lonely fellows willing to give him a wax job.
Who names their child Jorey? I blame the parents.
She/He/It. Just say it ten times really fast.
I prefer to be referred to as "Tk."
Reading some of these posts helps one to understand why Americans are increasingly held in such low regard abroad.
And deservedly so.
Sad to see it, especially in progressive comunities like Portland….
I know from first hand experience that American’s are "held in such low regard abroad" but it certainly isn’t because the majority of people in the states don’t support inmate sex-changes and using preferred pronouns.
This person needs serious therapy, but not surgery.
There’s no way to say write this tactfully, so I apologize for offending anyone. Here goes:
By my math, Brewis is set to do a 12 year bid. That’s serious time. His/her life, for all intents an purposes, is ruined (if it wasn’t to begin with). I’ve never been to jail myself but I’m sure we’re all aware of the stories regarding sexual assault among inmates. So if it’s me, and I’ve got a choice between removing my testicles or getting anal raped for the next decade plus, I have to say I’d go with chopping off my testes.
Finally, I find it a little odd that Brewis decided he/she needs to be testicle-free after he/she is sent to jail. Did he/she try to commit suicide before being incarcerated? It would be super easy, albeit still incredibly painful, to chop off your testicles as a free man. It seems odd Brewis’ GID started to seriously manifest itself only after he/she got sent up.
On the topic of medical treatment in prison: I downloaded information from the ACLU website on the Eight Ammendment and the rights of prisoners to recieve adequate medical care. It states that if a serious medical need is present that it must be responded to even if it means that the prisoner meeds to be treated outside the prison facility.
If a law abiding person threatened and attempeted to commit suicide or castrate themselves, it would be considered a serious medical need. If the prisoner in this article was known to have such violent motives, and had attempted such violence in the past, it should therefore have been considered a serious medical need. According to the Eight Ammendment the prisoner should have been at most transfered to a phycological facility or in the least allowed to have access to a psychiatrist. Oh yes, and on our tax dollars. Because that is the law.
On the topic of Gender Indentity. I know several people who consider themselves transgendered. They are in various stages of "Treatment and Surgery". This implies working with a counselor, psychiatrist, or medical doctor. Sugery is only part of the treatment, and is not be the answer for all transgendered people. What treatment works best is usually determined by the person and their counselor/doctor together.
They key point here is transgendered person and their doctor together. Which goes back to the argument about adequate medical care in prison.
Prisoners don’t often get adequate medical care in prison, for a variety of reasons. I think this is one example of many a time when a prosoner just didn’t get the treatment they needed. The only reason it made the news is because it was over a controversial and sensitive subject to the Americal populace. One that would cause us enough emotion so that we would forget what is really newsworthy. The war and people dying in it every day, both Americans sodiers and civilians in Irac. The lies we were told about why we went to war in the first place. How many of our solders, who are indeed taking risks many of us would never dream of taking are being asked to take those risks more often, at younger ages and for longer periods of time than ever before. How right now there is already so much early debate and coverage of the next election than there has even been. We are in such a critical state here in the US in terms of leadership, politics, international relationships, and personal freedom. Yet what do we get into arguments about? What causes us to feel so much anger toward eachother and call eachother names? An article about a prisoner and possible neglected medical treatment?
Please, think about this.
Uh, I don’t think the ACLU is the final authority on this matter. What they write is merely their opinion.
I have no problem getting this person access to mental health professionals. However, the operation is expensive and carries some risk. If it there is a problem, you can bet more lawsuits will come out and more and more money will be poured out.
Nice try on the Iraq thing, but it’s really not applicable to every single situation regarding government. I don’t think Oregon Corrections has sent a single person to Iraq.
Okay…A statement I uttered was posted here under the moniker of "YeahRight." So, after rereading further comments, I have chosen to address myself in person. To clear something very quick, in my past I have committed a crime and was incarcerated for it. Where I was at was not the best. We were confined to cells almost everyday except for visits and church once a month. With that said, I feel no sympathy for this man. He is a criminal, he is there to be punished. Everyday, millions of people go without the health care they so badly need. Whether it be for mental or physical reasoning. However, they go without it, why, because they can not afford. So, I should pay tax money to cover an inmate who chops his balls off, while the family down the street that works everyday can’t get treatment for their kid. Do inmates deserves medical treatment. Absolutely. However, no matter how many times he, and yes, he refers to himself as a female, or what he cuts off. He is still a male physically. As I was quoted in stating earlier, I’m a platypus then. Let’s see how many people fight for my right to call myself a platypus. Who knows, Maybe I truly believe that I am. Therefore, I demand that I be allowed species reassignment surgery…Starting…now. Hmm, well I’m still a human. Maybe I need to go commit a crime first. Now, let to get on a topic of people being rather um…contradictory. Most of these so called "bleeding-hearts" are of what denomination. Christian. Now, no I am not bashing the Christian faith, but lets look at this. They fight for his right to be considered a female and to be allowed to be a female. Well obviously, he was created male right. God made a mistake then? Explain that one to him when you die. "Sorry God, but I think you gave him a penis wrongly." I think they have a special padded room in Heaven for those people. Now for anyone not of faith. The typical other solution is believing in science, so well…Yeah. Science says certain things happened, during conception and whatever to make him male. It all comes down to, we are what we want to think we are. However that does not mean we are. So, since I’m a platypus, I’m going to go eat whatever I eat, and go swim in the pond until I get flown home to Australia.
what the eff? that’s not a joke. that’s not even remotely funny. i don’t even know what to say to such blatant sexism, bigotry, misogyny, and prejudice. get a clue you idiot and take a look around. who has the power in this society? and where are we headed? ’nuff said. f***wad.
All of this is so crazy I don’t even know what to say. OK, I do: http://blog.oregonlive.com/qpdx/2007/12/prison_castration.html
This is what I love. The most standard line of defense of "you’re an idiot" and other slander. Did I have to resort to name calling in my diatribe. No, nor will as it is the last and usually only line of defense of those who are unable to form an opinion of their own. This wasn’t written for humor. It was meant to take a step back from ourselves. Apparently this has become lost in doing so as is. Now, I would like to address each claim very quickly. Sexism seems to be first. Can you be sexist against your own sex? Probably I imagine, but I assure you, I have many male friends and I have no ill feelings towards them for being male. As for females, most should be treated as princesses. Let’s see. Bigotry…basically meaning I would be unable to see outside of my own proverbial "box". As I said earlier, I wish to step back from myself and look at my ownself as is. Which I have done. Hmm, misogyny…it seems I covered this, but let’s elaborate. Dislike and distrust of women…okay. What have I stated, that issues the claim? Have I appeared to dislike women or distrust them? No. My statement was towards a male that believes he is female, and attempted to mutilate himself in prison and succeeded and now wants, or wanted, to sue the prison system. Although, I’m sure you could get an apple out of an orange some way or another. The next one…prejudice. Basically towards the same line of being a "bigot" correct. So I guess I shall elaborate as I did on the misogyny thing. Once again, I choose to step out of myself and judge myself as well, but that is not the point. Am I prejudice towards this guy because he feels he should be a woman. Hell no. I have had transgendered friends. However, I am quite certain, they never removed their balls by their fingernails or shredded them to "ensure that they were dead." I don’t think this is a discussion honestly about him being a "woman on the inside." I think it simply falls that he is not quite sane in the mind. I can see being sane in feeling you are not who you are on the outside, I can dig that. However, as a male, who has testicles, I feel I must say. That the thought of doing that to my testicles, Hell, any part of my body. Is so unthinkable. The pain alone, you would have to be a bit insane to endure it. So with that said. I bid adieu on these claims and eagerly await your next response of "f***wad" and/or "idiot." Thank you again, you have bought a smile to my face and a just to my cause.
As "concerned person" points out, the 8th amendment protects prisoners from cruel and unusual punishment, which includes treatment for serious medical needs. At the same time, many posts show that people are frustrated with the number of lawsuits that prisoners file every year claiming violations of 8th amendment or other civil rights. Because of this sentiment, the Prison Litigation Reform Act was passed by the federal legislature, which requires that inmates "exhaust all administrative remedies" before filing suit (normally this means grievances). If you don’t, your lawsuit gets dismissed. I’d guess that this is the reason the plaintiff and subject of the article voluntarily dismissed her suit – not because it didn’t have merit.
I’m not a religious or especially politically correct man, but I find many of the comments as offensive as any of the hate speech I have ever heard. I understand wanting to lower taxes and keep a little more money in all of our pockets, but people are more important than a bottom line.
Some women are born with testicles, some men are born without, some women are born without a vagina, some men are born with. Some people have XXY chromasones, some men have ovaries. Every possible combination is possible and happens, so what defines gender? the parts? the genes? the brain? personality?
biologically speaking, what do you call a woman, XX, born with a penis and/or tests? and if they grow up like a man? or a inter sexed person? they are neither!
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersexuality
The Arch Angyl:
I would not say you are a bigot et al. But I would say you are somewhat misinformed. In the same breath I hasten to add that you interestingly have more knowledge about the prison system than I do. That being said I would like to address your assertion that stating that you are a platypus somehow is the same as being transsexual. That is an incorrect metaphor. One cannot change one’s species. One can change one’s sex presentation thru the use of hormones and surgery. I cannot address the Christian connection in your comment because I am not one, however I do believe in science. Science teaches us that secondary physical sex characteristics are controlled by hormones, hormones we can change. So we do. There are many many forms of genetic physical sex issues, such as Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, in which a genetic male cannot process testosterone. These people are always born looking female. They have all the female sex characteristics such as breasts, vaginal opening, shape everything except ovaries and the second X chromosome. By the logic you are using if these women were to commit a crime they should end up in a male prison and receive no help?
This one belongs on http://www.darwinawards.com (And so it shall be)
One of his problems is clearly solved, however I strongly suspect he’s going to have a few others now. Bad planing
Treating a mental issue with surgery… Many years ago they tried that. It was called a lobotomy. We all saw how that turned out! If I believed I was an eagle and sentenced to prison would the State of Oregon be required to surgically equip me with wings? This is just stupid.
Although tried that debate Tom, I’m a Platypus. It’s nice to meet someone else of the animal kingdom
Ret, your point is valid. The ACLU is not the authority on interpretations of the 8th ammendment. However, the 8th Ammendment does state, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
The latter part of this statement is what concerns healthcare. US courts would agree that both inhumane prison conditions and corpse mulitation would constitute a violation of the ammendment.
I believe that ACLU is trying to point out that not providing adequate healthcare would be considered inhumane, especially in the case where someone is trying to mutilate or kill themselves.
I am not saying that the state should have to pay for this person’s surgery. They should not. However this person clearly needed counseling in order to prevent bodily harm to themselfes. Such counsel was not given.
In terms of Irac I think my point was misunderstood. I was trying to point out that some are calling eachother names and arguing emotionally about a point that has little to do with the current larger issues of society. It is easy to "distract" people with emotionally controversial media, such as our transgendered criminal.
Instead of arguing about weather or not a person who rips of their own balls in prison was crazy or not, we could simply talk about wheter this person was denied appropriate care. Or we could further argue another point that was brought up…Prisoners do get medical care while some poor law abiding citizens do not. Why is that?
In fact prisoners get a lot of things that many law abiding people do not: meals, healthcare (of which adequacy can be argued), and a roof over their heads.
We should be outraged that our tax money goes to "help" prisoners get things many others cannot have. However, we should be even more outraged that there are children on the street who haven’t eaten in 24 hours, who are sick, and who will be sleeping under a bridge tonight. That seems curle and unusual to me. Should their not be an ammendment about that?
Our country seems to be preocupide with prisons and war, if you look at how the money is spent. We are not so preocupide with education, healthcare and social services. Why is that? Should we not question question the humanity of that?
At this point, some people may point out that this country goes to war so that I have the freedom to say such things. They may point out that I should not dare to critize a govermnemt that sends people to war to protects my rights, especially if I critize the very war that protects me, or the money being spent on it. Should I not use this right of free speach at all then? Should I not point out inconsistancies within our system? If someone risked their life so I could speak my opinions, I believe I should do it. To keep my mouth shut would be to dishonor the men and women who risked their lives. So I speak. I do not have answers to the questions I ask. However I feel the questions should still be asked. They should be discussed and answered in a manner that will benifit all persons in this country.
Ret, I believe the Oregon Department of Corrections trained some of the MPs that we sent to Abu Grahib. Both electrocuting a prisoner’s testicles and medical neglect of local prisoner’s testicles is a violation of the Geneva conventions prohibiting torture. Republican Presidential candidate John McCain would probably defend prisoners from medical neglect.
I find the comments concerning this story almost more entertaining than the story itself. I find it extremely insane that I must suffer a toothache because I have no dental insurance and cannot afford to pay out of pocket for a dentist, but a CONVICTED CRIMINAL can file a complaint because his insanity told him he should be something other than what he was created to be and that the state should take that into consideration and pay for it?
concerned person wrote:
" Instead of arguing about weather or not a person who rips of their own balls in prison was crazy or not, we could simply talk about wheter this person was denied appropriate care. Or we could further argue another point that was brought up…Prisoners do get medical care while some poor law abiding citizens do not. Why is that?
In fact prisoners get a lot of things that many law abiding people do not: meals, healthcare (of which adequacy can be argued), and a roof over their heads.
We should be outraged that our tax money goes to "help" prisoners get things many others cannot have. However, we should be even more outraged that there are children on the street who haven’t eaten in 24 hours, who are sick, and who will be sleeping under a bridge tonight. That seems cruel and unusual to me. Should their not be an ammendment about that?"
Amen. One hundred percent.
It is sadistic to enjoy the news of the pain and suffering of this person, and to use it as the butt of your jokes, even though she is a convicted criminal with mental health issues. It is as inhumane as the nineteenth century’s enjoyment of the pain and humiliation of the insane in hospitals like Bedlam. Those of you who think you are better than Rebekah Katherine, I suggest you reconsider your attitudes.
Though Jorey/Rebekah Katherine obviously has gender identity issues, I don’t believe that the state should be responsible for her transformation. I also do not believe that someone who could do this to themselves is in a place to make an informed and rational decision about the matter, as the normal procedures include extensive psychological testing and counseling. What the state is should be responsible for is the mental and physical health of all it’s prisoners, both of which were obviously neglected in this case.
As for the hateful and cruel comments, please know that gender is fluid, both psychologically and physically, as research has proven. Not endorsing changing sex for moral or other reasons is one thing, but ignorance to human biology is another.
This is not funny, it’s tragic, and this human being is in obvious psychological pain. How many of us can read this without wincing. Instead of shying away and making jokes, maybe it would be better to ask how much pain does a human being need to be in to do such a thing to themselves? And maybe even more importantly, what kind of human beings are we not to respond with some modicum of sympathy?
Malbar: Well said…I see myself as Katherine Zeta Jones….but no one else does…..:(((