Judge Orders Sex Change Surgery for Murderer

A federal District Judge has ordered the state of Indiana to provide sex reassignment surgery for a convicted murderer.  Matt Delaney of the Washington Times reports that District Judge Richard Young’s ruling in a lawsuit by the American  Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) requires state taxpayers to pay for the surgery, even though Indiana law forbids it.  The suit was brought on behalf of the former Jonathan Richardson, who now calls himself Autumn Cordellione.  Although Cordellione claims he identified as a female when he was six-years-old, he was married to a woman in 2001 when he strangled his 11-month-old stepdaughter to death while his wife was at work.  Although he was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the murder, he will be eligible for parole in 2027.

In his ruling Judge Young, a Clinton appointee, held that the 2023 Indiana law prohibiting the state corrections department from providing the surgery, violates the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The article continues:

“Today marks a significant victory for transgender individuals in Indiana’s prisons,” Ken Falk, the ACLU of Indiana legal director, said in response to the ruling. “Denying evidence-based medical care to incarcerated people simply because they are transgender is unconstitutional.”

In a separate case, Cordellioné is suing a jail chaplain for not allowing the inmate to wear a hijab outside her cell.

Cordellioné identifies as an “Islamic practicing transwoman,” according to the court documents acquired by the Courier & Press. The chaplain countered by saying Department of Corrections records show Cordellioné previously identified as Wiccan—a pagan religion focused on the worship of nature.

The Indiana Attorney General told reporters that the state plans to appeal the Judge’s ruling.

Where else in the civilized world is it considered “medical care” to cut off a mentally-ill person’s genitals.

As the Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris spearheaded the effort to require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide sex reassignment surgery to prison inmates.