“If the law supposes that, the law is a[n] ass a[n] idiot.” Most recognize the utterance of Mr. Bumble (of Dickens’s “Oliver Twist”) upon being reminded of a principle of England’s law of coverture: that he is responsible for the misdeeds of Mrs. Bumble, as the law presumes a husband controls his wife.
I do not know if there already is an annual “Bumble” award bestowed for the most preposterous judicial pronouncement. If not, I’ll start one. And the 2012 Bumble Award goes to: Kosilek v. Spencer, in which a Massachusetts district court held that state taxpayers must pay for a sex change operation for a male inmate who wants to be a woman. As if this needs a kicker, there is one. The winning plaintiff is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
