A transgender inmate serving a 55-year sentence for strangling her 11-month-old stepdaughter to death has been arrested in her bedroom despite identifying as a Muslim woman. She filed a civil lawsuit against the prison chaplain because she was prohibited from wearing the hijab outside of her home.
Autumn Cordelione, also known as Jonathan C. Richardson, is currently serving his sentence at the Indiana Department of Corrections’ men’s prison, Branchville Correctional Facility.
According to the lawsuit filed Nov. 30 and obtained by Fox News Digital, a prison chaplain told Richardson she was not allowed to wear the hijab outside of the bed area. Richardson is seeking $150,000 in damages and the ability to wear a hijab “anywhere on the property.”
“I told him I’m wearing a hajib [sic] I am a Muslim transwoman, so this was to cover my head and ears for modesty purposes,” Richardson said in the lawsuit.
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The American Civil Liberties Union has named Jonathan C. Richardson, a transgender inmate also known as Autumn Cordelione, who was convicted of strangling her 11-month-old stepdaughter to death in 2001. He is suing the Indiana Department of Corrections on his behalf. (Indiana Department of Corrections/Getty Images)
The pastor then informed Richardson that his preferred religion was “Wiccan,” a pagan, earth-centered religion with a male god and moon goddess, adding, “I’m a practicing eclectic. “America,” Richardson alleged in the complaint.
“I practice a variety of faiths to tailor my spiritual beliefs to my spiritual needs,” Richardson said in the lawsuit.
Richardson argued that the pastor violated the 14th Amendment, or Equal Protection Clause, by allegedly refusing to wear a hijab.
“Male Muslims are permitted to wear Kufi inside the facility and are not restricted to the bed area only,” the complaint states.
The chaplain also claimed that the chaplain violated his Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment and that he was subjected to “harassment and ridicule” by other Muslim prisoners.
“As pastors, they should be aware of the stigma and shame that Muslim women face when they are naked and not wearing a hijab. [sic]”Women are viewed as prostitutes, seducers of men, and adulterers,” Richardson wrote in the complaint. by the Islamic community both inside and outside of prisons. I have been shunned and ostracized within my religious community. ”
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Jonathan C. Richardson was arrested in 2001 for strangling his 11-month-old stepdaughter to death. (Indiana State Police Facebook)
Fox News Digital reached out to the pastor for comment from the Indiana Department of Corrections, but the department said it does not comment on pending litigation. The pastor could not be reached either.
FOX News Digital previously reported that Richardson, who was convicted of reckless homicide in the strangulation of her 11-month-old stepdaughter in 2001, was denied a request to undergo gender reassignment surgery by the Indiana Department of Corrections. It was reported that he is suing the station.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is representing Richardson in that lawsuit.
An Indiana law adopted last summer prohibits the Department of Corrections from using taxpayer dollars to fund gender reassignment surgeries for inmates. However, the ACLU argues that: lawsuitfiled on August 28, 2023, argued that the law violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishment.”
The ACLU’s lawsuit says Richardson’s surgery was “medically necessary.”
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office told FOX News Digital in a statement on Monday, “The ACLU is investigating the possibility that the convicted murderer of an 11-month-old infant will not be able to pay for his ridiculous request for gender reassignment surgery. “They already had a say when they tried to make the burden on taxpayers.” . ”
“The reason our office would not allow that is because ordinary law-abiding Hoosiers want justice to be served, not murderers who are satisfied while serving time in prison. ”
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The ACLU is suing the Indiana Department of Corrections on behalf of transgender inmate Jonathan C. Richardson (also known as Autumn Cordelione) for not allowing him to undergo gender reassignment surgery. (Fox News Digital)
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While incarcerated and awaiting trial, corrections officer Lt. James Spence asked Richardson what he was being charged with, to which Richardson reportedly replied, “Murder.”
“At that point, another officer reviewed Richardson’s booking form and advised Lt. Spence that Richardson was incarcerated on a charge of reckless homicide,” court records state. “When Lt. Spence relayed that information to Richardson, he said, ‘Well, all I know is that I killed that son of a bitch.'”
Richardson’s wife then filed for divorce and a restraining order in October 2001, according to public records.
