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Abstract: 

Mark Campbell, also known as Nicole Rose Campbell, is an inmate in the Wisconsin prison system. Campbell has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria; she is biologically male but identifies as female. Wisconsin Department of Corrections medical staff are treating Campbell’s condition with cross-gender hormone therapy. Beginning in September 2013, Campbell repeatedly requested a more radical intervention: sex-reassignment surgery. National standards of care recommend that patients undertake one year of “real life” experience as a person of their self-identified gender before resorting to irreversible surgical options. That preparatory period presented challenges for officials charged with the administration of sex-segregated prisons. DOC officials consulted an outside expert, who determined that Campbell was a potential surgical candidate. However, the expert’s cautious conclusion was conditioned on DOC officials developing a safe, workable solution to the real-life-experience dilemma. Citing those concerns and DOC policy, officials denied Campbell’s request. After filing grievances and exhausting administrative appeals, Campbell sued Dr. Kevin Kallas, the DOC Mental Health Director, and a host of other prison officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She alleged that the defendants were deliberately indifferent to her serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment and sought damages and injunctive relief. Both sides moved for summary judgment, and the defendants also claimed qualified immunity. The district court denied the motions. In rejecting the claim of qualified immunity, the judge concluded that caselaw clearly established a constitutional right to effective medical treatment. In Campbell v. Kallas, 936 F.3d 536 (7th Cir. Aug. 19, 2019), the appeals court reversed the lower court’s ruling, finding that it was not clearly established that the Eighth Amendment required the state to provide Campbell with gender dysphoria treatment beyond hormone therapy.

Keywords: Constitutional Right to Treatment; Gender Dysphoria; Qualified Immunity; Campbell v. Kallas

Affiliations:  1: Ohio Supreme Court Library.