https://nypost.com/2024/02/20/us-news/transgender-muslim-inmate-serving-
55-years-for-killing-baby-files-150k-lawsuit-for-not-being-allowed-to-
wear-hijab/
A transgender inmate serving a 55-year sentence for strangling her 11-
month-old stepdaughter to death filed a civil lawsuit against the prison 
chaplain for allegedly prohibiting her from wearing a hijab outside her 
immediate bed quarters, despite identifying as Muslim.
Autumn Cordellionè, also known as Jonathan C. Richardson, is currently 
serving out her sentence at the Branchville Correctional Facility, an 
Indiana Department of Correction state prison for men.
According to the lawsuit filed Nov. 30 and obtained by Fox News Digital, a 
prison chaplain told Cordellionè the hijab was not allowed to be worn 
outside her immediate bed area.
Cordellionè is seeking $150,000 in damages and the ability to wear 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,” 
Cordellionè said in the lawsuit.
The chaplain then proceeded to inform Richardson that his listed religious 
preference is “Wiccan,” a pagan Earth-centered religion 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,” Cordellionè alleged 
in the complaint. 
“I practice a diversity of faiths in order to custom tailor my spiritual 
beliefs to my spiritual needs,” Cordellionè said in the lawsuit. 
Cordellionè claimed his 14th amendment, or equal protection clause, was 
violated by the chaplain’s alleged refusal to let him wear the hijab. 
“Male Islamic practitioners are allowed to wear their kufis across the 
facility, and are not restricted to their bed areas only,” the complaint 
stated. 
She further alleged the chaplain violated her Eighth Amendment rights 
against cruel and unusual punishment and claimed he was subject to 
“harassment and ridicule” by other 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],” 
Cordellionè wrote in the complaint. “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.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Indiana Department of Corrections for 
comment from the chaplain, but the facility said they do not comment on 
pending litigation. The chaplain also could not be reached. 
Fox News Digital previously reported, Cordellionè, who was convicted of 
reckless homicide after strangling her 11-month-old stepdaughter to death 
in 2001, was suing the Indiana Department of Corrections for not granting 
her wish to get sex reassignment surgery. 
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is representing Cordellionè in 
that lawsuit.
An Indiana law, adopted last summer, prohibits the Department of 
Corrections from using taxpayer dollars to fund sex reassignment surgeries 
for inmates.
However, the ACLU argues in the lawsuit, filed on Aug. 28, 2023, that the 
law is a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and 
unusual punishment.”
The surgery for Cordellionè “is a medical necessity,” according to the 
ACLU lawsuit.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office told Fox News Digital in a 
statement 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.”
While incarcerated and awaiting trial, correctional officer Lt. James 
Spence reportedly asked Cordellionè what she was being charged with, to 
which Cordellionè responded, “murder.” 
“At that point, another officer checked Richardson’s [Cordellionè] booking 
sheet and advised Lieutenant Spence that Richardson was incarcerated for 
reckless homicide,” court records state. “When Lieutenant Spence relayed 
that information to Richardson, she stated ‘well all I know is I killed 
the little f—king bitch.’”
Richardson’s wife subsequently filed for divorce and a restraining order 
in October 2001, public records indicate.
-- 
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem.  It has none.
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.  
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden 
fiasco, President Trump.  
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood 
queer liberal democrat donors.
President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed 
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.