Arkansas inmate who performed self-castration loses federal appeal for gender reassignment

Published December 17, 2015

An Arkansas inmate who performed self-castration has lost a federal appeal requesting that the state provide hormone therapy related to gender reassignment.

A panel of the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Thursday that the Department of Correction could not be sued for denying the inmate's treatment. The majority said numerous mental health professionals didn't diagnose inmate Andrew Reid with a gender identity disorder.

The Department of Correction requires a diagnosis of gender dysphoria before it allows an inmate to start hormone replacement therapy.

A dissenting opinion in Reid's appeal says the state was unreasonable in providing no further treatment to the inmate and ignored the likelihood the inmate would harm herself.

Reid pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the baseball bat beating death of a man at Marshall.

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https://www.foxnews.com/us/arkansas-inmate-who-performed-self-castration-loses-federal-appeal-for-gender-reassignment