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A transgender inmate serving a 55-year sentence for strangling his 11-month-old stepdaughter to demise filed a civil lawsuit towards the jail chaplain for allegedly prohibiting him from sporting a hijab exterior his fast mattress quarters, regardless of figuring out as a Muslim woman.
Autumn Cordellionè, additionally identified as Jonathan C. Richardson, is presently serving out his sentence on the Branchville Correctional Facility, an Indiana Department of Correction state jail for males.
According to the lawsuit filed Nov. 30 and obtained by Fox News Digital, a jail chaplain instructed Richardson the hijab was not allowed to be worn exterior his fast mattress space. Richardson is in search of $150,000 in damages and the power to put on the hijab “anywhere I go within the facility.”
“I informed him that I wear the hajib [sic] in order to cover my head and ears for modesty purposes, as I am an Islamic practicing transwoman,” Richardson mentioned within the lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Indiana Department of Corrections on behalf of a transgender inmate, Jonathan C. Richardson, additionally identified as Autumn Cordellionè, who was convicted of strangling his 11-month-old stepdaughter to demise in 2001. (Indiana Department of Corrections/Getty Images)
The chaplain then proceeded to tell Richardson that his listed non secular desire is “Wiccan,” a pagan Earth-centered faith with a male god and moon goddess, “and I responded that I am an eclectic practitioner who is a member of the Theosophical Society in America,” Richardson alleged within the grievance.
“I practice a diversity of faiths in order to custom tailor my spiritual beliefs to my spiritual needs,” Richardson mentioned within the lawsuit.
Richardson claimed his 14th modification, or equal safety clause, was violated by the chaplain’s alleged refusal to let him put on the hijab.
“Male Islamic practitioners are allowed to wear their kufis across the facility, and are not restricted to their bed areas only,” the grievance said.
He additional alleged the chaplain violated his Eighth Amendment rights towards merciless and uncommon punishment and claimed he was topic to “harassment and ridicule” by different Muslim prisoners.
“He should be aware, as Chaplain, the stigma and shame that is attributed to Islamic women when they go uncovered and without a hijab [sic],” Richardson wrote within the grievance. “Women are viewed as whores, tempters of men, and adulterators; by Islamic society both in and out of prison. I have been shunned, made a social pariah, and amongst my own religious community.”
Jonathan C. Richardson was arrested in 2001 for strangling his 11-month outdated stepdaughter to demise. (Indiana State Police Facebook)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Indiana Department of Corrections for remark from the chaplain, however the facility mentioned they do not touch upon pending litigation. The chaplain additionally might not be reached.
Fox News Digital beforehand reported Richardson, who was convicted of reckless murder after strangling his 11-month-old stepdaughter to demise in 2001, was suing the Indiana Department of Corrections for not granting his want to get intercourse reassignment surgical procedure.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is representing Richardson in that lawsuit.
An Indiana legislation, adopted final summer time, prohibits the Department of Corrections from utilizing taxpayer {dollars} to fund intercourse reassignment surgical procedures for inmates. However, the ACLU argues in the lawsuit, filed on Aug. 28, 2023, that the legislation is a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment.”
The surgical procedure for Richardson “is a medical necessity,” in line with the ACLU lawsuit.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s workplace instructed Fox News Digital in an announcement on Monday: “The ACLU already gave this convicted murderer of an 11-month-old baby a voice when they tried to make taxpayers foot the bill for his ridiculous gender transition surgery request.”
“Our office didn’t let that happen because regular, law abiding Hoosiers want to see justice served — not a killer being catered to while serving time behind bars.”
The ACLU is suing the the Indiana Department of Corrections on behalf of a transgender inmate, Jonathan C. Richardson, additionally identified as Autumn Cordellionè, for not allowing intercourse reassignment surgical procedure. (Fox News Digital)
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While incarcerated and awaiting trial, correctional officer Lt. James Spence reportedly requested Richardson what he was being charged with, to which Richardson responded, “murder.”
“At that point, another officer checked Richardson’s booking sheet and advised Lieutenant Spence that Richardson was incarcerated for reckless homicide,” courtroom data state. “When Lieutenant Spence relayed that information to Richardson, he stated ‘well all I know is I killed the little f—ing bitch.’”
Richardson’s spouse subsequently filed for divorce and a restraining order in October 2001, public data point out.
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