A transgender inmate serving a 55-year sentence for strangling his 11-month-old stepdaughter to death has never been seen outside of his bedroom, even though he identifies as Muslim. She filed a civil lawsuit against the prison chaplain for banning her from wearing the hijab.
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 chaplain at the prison told Cordelione that she would not be allowed to wear a hijab except in her bed area.
Cordelione is seeking $150,000 in damages and the ability to wear a hijab “anywhere on the property.”
“I told him I was wearing a hajib.” [sic] I am a Muslim transwoman, so this was to cover my head and ears for modesty purposes,” Cordelione said in the lawsuit.
The pastor then informed Richardson that his preferred religion was “Wiccan,” an Earth-centered pagan religion with a male god and moon goddess, adding, “I am a practitioner of eclecticism and a member of the Theosophical Society. He replied that he was a member of “America,” Cordelione alleged in the complaint.
“I practice a variety of faiths in order to tailor my spiritual beliefs to my spiritual needs,” Cordelione said in the lawsuit.
Cordelione claimed 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.
She further alleged that the chaplain violated her Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment and that she was subject 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]” Cordelione wrote in the complaint. “Women are considered prostitutes, seducers of men, and adulterers by the Islamic community both in and out of prison. I have been shunned within my religious community and ostracized. ”
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 Cordelione, who was convicted of reckless homicide in the strangulation of her 11-month-old stepdaughter in 2001, was denied her request to have gender reassignment surgery in Indiana. It was reported that he is suing the Department of Corrections.
Cordelione is represented in the lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
An Indiana law adopted last summer prohibits the Department of Corrections from using taxpayer dollars to fund gender reassignment surgeries for inmates.
but, 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 Cordelione’s surgery was “medically necessary.”
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office told Fox News Digital in a statement Monday: “The ACLU already gave voice to the convicted murderer of an 11-month-old infant when he tried to force taxpayers to pay for his ridiculous request for gender reassignment surgery. Ta” “
“The reason our office would not allow that is because ordinary law-abiding Hoosiers want justice to be served, not for murderers to be dealt with while serving time in prison. .”
While incarcerated and awaiting trial, correctional officer Lt. James Spence asked Cordelione what he was being charged with, to which Cordelione reportedly replied, “murder.”
“At that point, another officer searched Richardson’s body.” [Cordellionè] “He created a booking form and informed Lt. Spence that Richardson was incarcerated for reckless homicide,” court records state. “When Lt. Spence relayed that information to Richardson, she 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.
