SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Taxpayers fund a murderer’s ‘completeness’

Jan 10, 2017, 1:31 PM

In an outrageous abuse of the legal system, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in California has successfully sued the state to get “gender reassignment surgery” costing taxpayers close to $100,000. Shiloh Heavenly Quine was convicted for his role in the brutal 1980 crime spree that included kidnapping, robbery and first-degree murder. The 57-year-old inmate insisted that the radical surgical procedure would give him “a drastic internal completeness” to relieve his suicidal depression.

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Even for those who defend the dubious value of the medically sanctioned mutilation known as “sex change” operations, the idea that taxpayers must provide such procedures to maximize prisoner happiness is ridiculous. What other expensive, elective surgeries should public funds be forced to provide? If we’re obligated to fund such treatment for imprisoned murderers, can we do any less for law-abiding citizens?

Americans should hope that the new Trump administration makes judicial appointments to the federal bench that prevent such expensive idiocy in the future.

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Taxpayers fund a murderer’s ‘completeness’