James Randall Smith has another 30 years or so to spend in prison and he'd like to do it as a woman. The convicted rapist would also like to have his sex change surgery on your dime.

New Jersey's Department of Corrections said "no" and so did an appeals court, so now Smith is suing the state prison system.

Smith is doing time for kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old girl in 2000. His sex change fight started about three years ago. Smith has argued that although he was biologically born male, he is "trapped in a body that doesn't belong to him," according to court documents.



Joe Hart writes in the Cape May Herald:

"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."

Prison officials denied Smith's request to be diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder and his sex change request.

"…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.'"

Smith appealed the ruling just this month and got rejected again. That's why he's decided to sue. The appellate judges listed, among their reasons for siding with prison officials on this one, Smith's inmate photo showing a "long-standing mustache."

Get More: Cape May County Herald