Wisconsin court rules against transgender sex offender

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s conservative majority has ruled that a transgender woman cannot change her name because she is on the state’s sex offender registry and the law does not allow people on the registry to change their names. The court’s 4-3 decision Thursday upholds the rulings of two lower courts, which rejected the woman’s requests to avoid registering as a sex offender and to change her name. She was required to register as a sex offender after sexually assaulting a disabled 14-year-old boy when she was 15. She is now 22. She entered the criminal justice system identifying as male and was ordered to register as a sex offender for 15 years.