Federal Court to Hear Appeal in Inmate Sex Change Case

BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court will hear arguments in April in an appeal of a judge's ruling granting a taxpayer-funded sex change for a Massachusetts transgender inmate.

The state is appealing a ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ordering prison officials to provide sex-reassignment surgery for Michelle Kosilek, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence.

On Thursday, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston scheduled a hearing for April 2.

Kosilek was named Robert when convicted in the 1990 murder of wife Cheryl Kosilek.

Wolf ruled in September that the surgery is the "only adequate treatment" for Koslek's gender-identity disorder.

The state says there are legitimate safety concerns of protecting her in prison if she has the surgery.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.