FILE: Robert Kosilek, also known as Michelle, appears in Bristol County Superior Court in New Bedford, Massachusetts. (AP)
BOSTON – A convicted murderer suing prison officials in the U.S. state of Massachusetts for a sex-change operation says a recent court ruling supports her claim.
Judge Mark Wolf has agreed to hear arguments Thursday from lawyers for Michelle Kosilek.
Kosilek has been trying to force prison officials to provide the surgery for more than a decade. She says the Department of Correction is violating her constitutional rights by denying the surgery.
Kosilek's lawyers say Wolf should consider a ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which recently rejected security concerns as justification for denying hormone therapy to another transgender inmate.
Kosilek, born as Robert, was convicted of killing his wife in 1990. Kosilek has received female hormone treatments and has been living as a woman in an all-male prison.
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