WryBread
March 29th, 2008, 05:42 PM
http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=10223
UPDATED with DOC Comment: JUICY SUITS: Cutting Off Her Own Testicles in Prison
December 13th 2007 1:59pm
A prisoner is suing Oregon Department of Corrections Director Max Williams and 16 other state prison officials for ignoring what he calls his severe case of gender-identity disorder.
According to a civil-rights lawsuit filed Nov. 21 at U.S. District Court in Portland, 27-year-old Jorey Lee Brewis—aka Rebekah Katherine—was so troubled that he cut out his testicles in his cell and mutilated them.
Brewis was sentenced to 70 months in 2000 for robbery. But he's had his original sentence extended by seven years for a series of convictions while behind bars for assault, carrying a weapon and supplying contraband. He is currently being held at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla.
Brewis refers to himself as a female throughout the lawsuit, which says his discomfort with his male body is so severe that he's tried suicide four times since 2002 and has tried to castrate himself 13 times.
"Plaintiff grieves deeply over hair loss due to male pattern baldness caused by testosterone, and also grief over restriction from shaving her body free of the men's length hair growing on whole body," the hand-written lawsuit says. "This disjunction between body and mind causes plaintiff everyday misery and compels desires to castrate the testicles."
The lawsuit claims prison officials knew of Brewis' disorder through his repeated attempts to kill and castrate himself, but that they denied Brewis treatment.
On Sept. 18, the lawsuit says Brewis castrated himself in his cell using his fingernails "partially based on study of the Gray's Anatomy book that teaches castration." It took five hours, involved "extreme mental suffering," and "a whole roll of toilet paper was used to absorb all of the blood," the lawsuit says.
"Upon eviscerating the testicles, plaintiff tied off and ligated the epididymus on each bare testicle with hair ties and two rubber bands," the lawsuit says. Afterward, "plaintiff shredded the deadened testicles and mutilated them to ensure they were dead," according to the lawsuit.
Brewis, who is originally from Ashland, seeks immediate treatment for his disorder and $10 million in damages.
Oregon Department of Corrections spokeswoman Wendy Hatfield spoke with WWire on Thursday morning. She says she can't discuss Brewis' case because of medical privacy concerns, but she defends the DOC's safety record.
"Part of the Department's mission is to be responsible for the safety and welfare of its employees and inmates, which we take very seriously," Hatfield says. She adds that DOC has no specific policy on how to deal with inmates who identify as transgender.
On Nov. 29 Brewis requested the case be dismissed so he could complete the DOC's formal grievance process—a requirement before proceeding with a lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman granted that request and dismissed the case Dec. 4
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1)So the person is suing because was not given free transgender surgery while in prison.
2)Shredding your own testicles? Again, I am not a guy and this has me shuddering.
UPDATED with DOC Comment: JUICY SUITS: Cutting Off Her Own Testicles in Prison
December 13th 2007 1:59pm
A prisoner is suing Oregon Department of Corrections Director Max Williams and 16 other state prison officials for ignoring what he calls his severe case of gender-identity disorder.
According to a civil-rights lawsuit filed Nov. 21 at U.S. District Court in Portland, 27-year-old Jorey Lee Brewis—aka Rebekah Katherine—was so troubled that he cut out his testicles in his cell and mutilated them.
Brewis was sentenced to 70 months in 2000 for robbery. But he's had his original sentence extended by seven years for a series of convictions while behind bars for assault, carrying a weapon and supplying contraband. He is currently being held at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla.
Brewis refers to himself as a female throughout the lawsuit, which says his discomfort with his male body is so severe that he's tried suicide four times since 2002 and has tried to castrate himself 13 times.
"Plaintiff grieves deeply over hair loss due to male pattern baldness caused by testosterone, and also grief over restriction from shaving her body free of the men's length hair growing on whole body," the hand-written lawsuit says. "This disjunction between body and mind causes plaintiff everyday misery and compels desires to castrate the testicles."
The lawsuit claims prison officials knew of Brewis' disorder through his repeated attempts to kill and castrate himself, but that they denied Brewis treatment.
On Sept. 18, the lawsuit says Brewis castrated himself in his cell using his fingernails "partially based on study of the Gray's Anatomy book that teaches castration." It took five hours, involved "extreme mental suffering," and "a whole roll of toilet paper was used to absorb all of the blood," the lawsuit says.
"Upon eviscerating the testicles, plaintiff tied off and ligated the epididymus on each bare testicle with hair ties and two rubber bands," the lawsuit says. Afterward, "plaintiff shredded the deadened testicles and mutilated them to ensure they were dead," according to the lawsuit.
Brewis, who is originally from Ashland, seeks immediate treatment for his disorder and $10 million in damages.
Oregon Department of Corrections spokeswoman Wendy Hatfield spoke with WWire on Thursday morning. She says she can't discuss Brewis' case because of medical privacy concerns, but she defends the DOC's safety record.
"Part of the Department's mission is to be responsible for the safety and welfare of its employees and inmates, which we take very seriously," Hatfield says. She adds that DOC has no specific policy on how to deal with inmates who identify as transgender.
On Nov. 29 Brewis requested the case be dismissed so he could complete the DOC's formal grievance process—a requirement before proceeding with a lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman granted that request and dismissed the case Dec. 4
-------------------------
1)So the person is suing because was not given free transgender surgery while in prison.
2)Shredding your own testicles? Again, I am not a guy and this has me shuddering.