Court Denies Rapist’s Request to Become a Woman

TRENTON — A man serving 40 years in state prison for the kidnap and rape of a teenage girl in Cape May County a decade ago is now suing the state prison system for not allowing him to become a woman.
According to Herald archives, James Randall Smith, 33, a former truck driver from Vineland, ambushed a 17-year-old girl and her boyfriend at knifepoint on the Ocean City Boardwalk in early morning hours of Aug. 7, 2000. Smith took the girl to a remote area of Maurice River Township where he raped her, beat her and left her for dead.
Now he wants a sex change.
In Trenton’s New Jersey State Prison facility, Smith is designated a “special needs inmate.” He claimed to be a “male-to-female transgender individual” who although “born biologically male” is “psychologically and emotionally female,” according to court documents.
Beginning in June 2007, Smith started lobbying multiple Department of Corrections (DOC) mental health professionals to diagnose him with gender identity disorder (GID) and provide appropriate psychological and medical treatment, which included estrogen and female hormones, women’s clothing, cosmetics and amenities, hair removal cream, feminine hygiene products and castration.
One of Smith’s counselors told him he would neither be diagnosed with nor treated for GID and “it would be better if you just forget about it.”
He didn’t take the advice.
His initial requests were denied because prison officials said “inmate has refused to discuss this with treating psychiatrist.” Officials said he must talk to the psychiatrist and then they would recommend an appropriate course of action based on that evaluation.
Smith argued that he did not discuss the matter with the psychiatrist because their sessions lacked “privacy and confidentiality” with conversations recorded and a unit officer that “sits nearby.”
When Smith was denied a diagnosis, the prison psychiatrist said his evaluation did not show “two major criteria” of GID — “a strong identification with the opposite sex, and a high level of discomfort with your body.”
Prison officials also noted that “sexual reassignment surgery is an elective procedure and is not provided/available to inmates.”
His subsequent requests were denied, culminating in a final determination from the DOC.
Smith appeals from that determination, arguing that is was “arbitrary and capricious.”
On appeal, Smith stated that the failure to afford “private and confidential meetings” with prison mental health professionals denied his constitutional rights. He also argued that denial of treatment for GID constituted cruel and unusual punishment, because he is “trapped in a body that doesn’t belong to (him).”
On Aug. 17 this year, Smith asked the Appellate Division to reconsider the denial. Ten days later an appeals court denied his request, affirming the prison’s ruling.
“Appellant has never been diagnosed with GID and there is no evidence in this record to support appellant’s contention that he suffers from the mental health disorder,” the appellate decision stated. “Moreover, appellant resists the medical professionals’ request to discuss these feelings and engage in therapy designed to consider whether he experiences the symptoms of GID, because of an overwhelming concern that someone might be listening.”
The appeals court didn’t buy his argument, stating the “claims are nothing more than mere speculation and supposition and are rejected.”
“The denial of GID treatment was based on psychological and psychiatric evaluations and appellant’s prison record evincing appellant lacked female gender identification,” the judges said, noting that his record did not show him “living as a woman.” They also cited his inmate photograph showing a “long-standing mustache.”
In the end, the appellate court sided with corrections officials, but suggested that Smith should continue his psychological treatment.
“The prison psychiatric staff has evaluated appellant on several occasions and concluded there is insufficient evidence to establish the criteria to support a GID diagnosis,” the appellate decision concluded. “The DOC continues to provide mental health treatment and encouraged appellant to discuss feelings that will aid in future care. Its failure to accept appellant’s self-diagnosis is neither arbitrary nor capricious and is not of constitutional dimension.”
In the meantime, Smith will likely have to serve the remainder of his prison term as a man. According to his DOC profile, Smith’s projected max release date is listed as May 8, 2055.