HOUSE BILL: Criminal Justice Reform Act 2017 (At Final Vote)

[Mike Thick]

I think FISA and Gitmo should really be addressed in separate legislation, and I would consider addressing gender identity in another bill as well -- it's very legally complicated stuff, and simply saying that prisoners can go to the prison of the gender they identify as with no restrictions or strings attached can cause a host of different problems.

However, this is a good bill on the whole.

[Mike Thick]

Abstain

I've reached out to the Governors to try and coordinate a uniform and clear-cut system for changing one's gender officially through a legal process that would likely include some kind of clinical treatment -- after we work that out, it should be a lot easier to address issues of transgender rights in prisons and elsewhere.

In the meantime, AZ's solution is decent.

[Mike Thick]

I would be much more inclined to support the bill with the amendment -- without it, as I previously stated, it tries to do too much.

[Mike Thick]

AYE ftr