Male prisoner convicted of murder seeks gender reassignment surgery, ACLU seeks taxpayer funding.
ACLU Lawsuit Demands Taxpayer-Funded Gender Surgery for Convicted Murderer
In a controversial move, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit demanding that taxpayers cover the cost of gender transition surgery for a prison inmate. However, what the ACLU conveniently fails to mention is that the plaintiff in this case, Jonathan Richardson, is behind bars for the heinous murder of an 11-month-old baby.
The ACLU’s Indiana branch recently filed the lawsuit on behalf of Richardson, who now goes by the name Autumn Cordellioné. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, seeks to allow Richardson to undergo transgender genital surgery while serving his sentence. The lawsuit provides minimal information about Richardson, only stating that he is an “adult transgender female prisoner confined in a male institution within the Indiana Department of Correction.”
According to records from the Indiana Department of Correction, Richardson was convicted of murdering his stepdaughter in 2001. The baby’s autopsy revealed that she had been manually strangled to death while her mother was at work. Richardson admitted to shaking the child in a rough manner. In fact, while incarcerated, Richardson even confessed to corrections officers, saying, “Well all I know is I killed the little f***ing bitch.”
Richardson was sentenced to 55 years behind bars in 2002, with his earliest possible release date set for 2027. However, the ACLU’s lawsuit aims to challenge an Indiana law that prohibits the use of taxpayer money for sexual reassignment surgery for prisoners.
The lawsuit claims that Richardson was diagnosed with gender dysphoria while incarcerated and has been taking female hormones and testosterone since 2020. Despite this, the complaint argues that Richardson still suffers from serious depression and anxiety, and gender surgery is now deemed a medical necessity.
The ACLU argues that Indiana’s new law violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits excessive punishments, and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection clause, as it discriminates against transgender individuals. The organization is demanding a preliminary injunction to block the law so that Richardson can undergo an orchiectomy and vaginoplasty.
According to the complaint, Richardson has identified as female since childhood and has experienced distress due to his genitals. The complaint even states that Richardson has soiled himself rather than use the toilet because of the stress caused by his gender dysphoria.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office has pushed back against the lawsuit, stating that taxpayers should not be responsible for funding gender surgeries for prisoners. The office argues that these surgeries are not necessary medical treatments but rather an atrocity.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time incarcerated transgender individuals have sought cross-sex hormones and genital surgeries. Last year, a federal prisoner in Texas became the first to receive gender surgery while serving time for threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction. Similarly, an Idaho state prison inmate received gender surgery after a lengthy legal battle with the state, which initially refused to cover the cost. This inmate had been convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
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