“Clark? This is Judge Wolf in courtroom 102, how are you today?…I have a defendant who has been in [your] jail for three days who was standing in front of me completely pantsless – has no trousers on”.
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A Kentucky judge was absolutely floored when she saw jail officials leading a woman into her courtroom on Friday and noticed that the woman did not seem to be wearing any trousers at all, much less a jail jumpsuit.
The judge immediately took actions to try to remedy the issue and called authorities at the jail where the woman was held, during court. The woman said that many women were undergoing similar treatment, and her attorney added that some were being denied showers.
An angry Wolf phoned jail officials during the hearing and demanded an explanation.
But Steve Durham, the jail’s assistant director and spokesman, said in an interview Saturday night that neither Wolf nor her lawyer checked to see that she had shorts under on under a long t-shirt.
Wolf asked that something be found for the woman to cover up with.
Share with Us – We’d love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article, and smart, constructive criticism. She then orders her back to the holding tank to spare her anymore indignity.
“Am I in the Twilight Zone right now?” Her horror at the trousers situation was matched only by her disgust at the recommended 75 day sentence. Scarcity of feminine hygiene products is not uncommon.
The inmate was arrested and held for not completing a diversion program on a 2014 shoplifting charge. Her jailors had also “refused to give any kind of hygiene products”. “Especially for the first 72 hours”. The majority of them committed non-violent offenses (and, presumably, do not have a Judge Wolf to rule on their behalf).
But Durham said the jail followed standard operating procedures, and that it was the sheriff’s office that brought her to the courtroom.
“I just want to tell you how incredibly sorry I am that you’ve been treated this way”, Wolf told the woman.
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Judge Wolf reduced the woman’s sentence to time served and gave her a $100 credit towards her fine. “They have assured me that it was a mistake and that it won’t happen again, but given the information you’re telling me, it makes me feel like that’s probably not correct”. The defendant told the judge other inmates at the facility were also being denied proper clothing and basic hygiene products. “But, once you were arrested, the rest of this is completely inhumane and unacceptable, and I’m very sorry that you had to go through this”.
