By Don Thompson
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California panel recommended parole for a transgender inmate on Thursday, a decision that could keep her from receiving the prison-funded sex reassignment surgery she says is necessary for her emotional health.
Michelle-Lael Norsworthy is no longer dangerous and should be freed, a pair of parole commissioner decided after a hearing. Norsworthy, 51, has served 28 years in prison for a second-degree murder conviction from Orange County.
The decision sets up a race to see if Norsworthy, who was born a man and has lived as a woman since the 1990s, gets the surgery before she is paroled.
The state Board of Parole Hearings now has 120 days to review the commissioners’ recommendation. If it is upheld, Gov. Jerry Brown will have another 30 days to intervene.
U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar of San Francisco ruled last month that Norsworthy’s civil rights are being violated and ordered the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide her with the sex reassignment surgery as soon as possible.
The surgery currently is scheduled for July 1, but corrections officials are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to delay the operation while it considers the state’s appeal of Tigar’s order, a process that could take months.
She could have the surgery July 1 if the court doesn’t intervene, and be paroled later this year. But if the stay is granted, she could be paroled before the appeals court considers her case.
Norsworthy is being held at Mule Creek State Prison, a men’s prison in Ione, near Sacramento. Prison records still refer to her by her birth name of Jeffrey Bryan Norsworthy.