Inmate Wants Sex Change & Transfer to Women's Prison

Any thinking adult will have a furrowed forehead after reading this story reported on the CNN.com website.

Mark Brooks, 34, was convicted of a murder committed 14 years ago and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. Three years ago, he sued the State of New York to get treatment for his Gender Identity Disorder. He calls himself Jessica and claims to be "a girl inside."

The treatment would entail the state paying $500,000 for a sex change operation and associated therapy, plus transfer to a women's prison. The case is currently being litigated.

OK, I'll give my take and somebody please tell me where my thinking is awry. First, this guy is 34 years old and committed the murder 14 years ago. That means he walked into a maximum security prison at the tender age of 20, maybe 21. He arrives with a life sentence hanging over his head. The prison he goes to is already at capacity with other murderers serving life sentences.

Now, follow my logic. He claims, after approximately 10 years in prison (he filed suit 3 years ago), that he is "a girl inside" and somewhere along the way he has pumped enough smoke at the prison psychologists to convince them that he has a medical disorder.

I don't think so, for two reasons. First, prison psychologists are constantly trying to attach medical reasoning and terminology to aberrant or bizarre behavior by the convicts when the basis should be low intellect or abject ignorance. The result is the proliferation of new syndromes and disorders. There are no provisions (nor psychologist bold enough) to write down a diagnosis of "behavior due to patient being a dumb/ignorant criminal."

As an aside, if I sat on my ass on a hard surface for a long time, my butt would get sore. If I did this for a number of years and complained to a doctor often enough, he would classify it as a chronic condition. If he was pressed for a diagnosis (from an insurance company maybe?) for the chronic condition, he'd probably name it something like "nonspecific muscle discomfort." Now, all you need is one more person with a sore ass nonspecific muscle discomfort and you've got yourself a syndrome or disorder.

Getting back to our convicted murderer, Mark Brooks, who is "a girl inside." It's apparent that he spent the better part of 10 years complaining about his particular "discomfort" and was rewarded by somebody deciding to call it a disorder. Based upon the determination that an actual medical condition exists (disorder), by law the state is obligated to provide treatment. And that's where the case is now, with large checks being cashed by teams of lawyers trying to agree on how the state can comply with the law to treat this bogus disorder.

I strongly maintain that this "disorder" is not a medical condition requiring treatment. When sweet young and tender 21-year-old Mark Brooks walked into that prison, his gender identity was immediately established by the resident population of murderers, rapists, and kidnappers. He became the most feminine girl-next-door on the cell block. And for 10 years, he was a beauty queen and someone's girlfriend. His "disorder" is the natural result of life in prison for a young guy. No treatment necessary. Life in prison changes people dramatically and justifiably so. It shouldn't be easy or fun. Mark Brooks is an ignorant/dumb criminal serving life. He shouldn't get special treatment because the prison environment makes him say and do stupid things.

Of course, I could be wrong in my thinking. Let me know.