Tax payers on the hook for up to $80,000 to cover murderer's sex change operation

[werepossum]

I know I am speaking as a lawyer (some people will discount everything I have to say on this subject for that reason), but I am a lawyer who has worked as a prosecutor and a defense attorney on cases of the greatest magnitude, so I don't think it's fair to paint me as naive or biased toward one side or the other. I think we as Americans have worked hard to create a system that is as fair and just as possible. I don't love the idea of the taxpayers buying this guy a sex change, but I do love the idea of a system which protects the civil rights of even the worst people.

Agreed - although a system of law can sometimes be in opposition to justice, as here. Much as this case irritates me, the alternative, rule by man, is repugnant to me. If I'm occasionally hoisted by my own petard as it were, no system is perfect.

We can never have and never have had anything else. Law is an attempt to codify justice. It is called a justice system because it is driven by that aim. The law is the tool we use to strive for the aim. It is the aim that is sacred. The love of justice is innate. The love of law, not so much as we see here.

Agreed, well said.