Who committed the murders, "Donna" or "Doug"
In an interesting take on psychological continuity,
A transgender woman accused of being a serial killer is blaming the 1990 murders of three prostitutes in Washington State on Douglas Perry, the person she identified as before her transition.
Donna Perry, 62, told police in 2012 in an affidavit filed in Spokane Superior Court that she had gender reassignment surgery in Thailand, and when a person transitions from male to female, "there's a great downturn in violence."
from ABC Newshttp://abcnews.go.com/Health/transgender-woman-male-persona-serial-killer/story?id=22959423
There has been argument about psychological continuity with dissociative identity disorder (DID), aka multiple personality disorder, especially when the personality of the alters is dramatically different and there is amnesia for the actions of the alters. Should one "person" be punished for the actions of another "person" who just happens to live in the same body?
None of these arguments can be applied to this situation. A more apt analogy might be a man in his 60s being punished for crimes committed in his foolish youth. The punishment might be reduced in the circumstances, but the person is still held responsible (unless there is a statutory limitation).
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