A Muslim mother of two, who was detained at a Kentucky jail earlier this year, says she was forced to remove her hijab and underwent “an unnecessary full body strip search,” which was “filmed and projected” on a TV screen for men and women in the jail’s lobby to see, according to a lawsuit she has filed.
What does a ‘strip search’ entail here? Not that I’m excusing the officers actions here - it’s clearly reprehensible to be so callous about religious clothing and for it to have been observed by others via the tv - but I feel very differently if they streamed her naked vs clothed without her abaya
You might feel differently, but she might not considering what it would mean to her personally based on her culture and religion. I think what matters is that either would be quite violating in this context.
Exactly, facts of the case matter and the headline is rolling two controversial issues in this case into one.
I believe the fact you are looking for is that she was searched in the nude in a private room with only one female officer (which itself is against the local policy). But afterwards…
While Doe waited to have her booking photo taken, she was asked to wait on a bench in the jail’s lobby. The lawsuit states that’s when she realized there was a TV screen “hung right above the door where she had been strip searched” and it was streaming footage from inside the room and facing the lobby, for all in the room to see.
In my experience a strip search can mean anything from get completely naked squat and cough to get down to your underwear and pull out the waistband all the way around.
Also it’s always been in front of other arrested people.
I mean, I’ve conducted probably quite a few if not at least a couple hundred strip searches myself when I was a Corrections officer. We used privacy screens and even if there was a lot of other inmates around, they had no visual of the stripped inmate, and were usually about 10 feet down the hall with a third C/O while me and my partner would conduct the search. Any religious articles like necklaces with a large enough pendant or cross, a kufi or what have you would be taken and searched, but I always immediately gave them back to the individual to put back on if they wanted/needed to. Typically, one officer is searching their clothes while the other directs the inmates to follow the steps, which is usually shake hands through hair, bend the ears, open the mouth and lift the tongue, raise arms, lift their junk, turn around lift both feet so the soles face you, then they spead their butt.
Well, I have been strip searched twice. The first time was at the Jefferson county jail in Birmingham, Al. They take you around the side of this wall where a deputy sheriff (they use deputies instead of corrections officers) stood there with a trustee and another dude that got brought in same time as me, but unrelated to me. We had to get naked, spread our cheeks, and squat and cough, lift our junk, etc. We were given some orange scrubs and long ass flip flops. Then the deputy took our clothes while we were getting our jail clothes on, and the trustee asked us if when we got out he could have our cigs. That time I was so dope sick that the other dudes in the jail took pity on me , and gave me a spot to be alone, and because I couldn’t eat and kept puking they let me sign my own bond. Plus it was a possession charge. I got caught with a gram of heroin.
The second time. The only ride I could find to get to court for the above charge was one of my old dope friends. We got pulled over and she had needles in the car. They gave me one just because I was with her.
Anyway, that time a cop took me into an office and shut the door. He had me strip down to my boxers, and because of how my last experience was I started taking my boxers off. He was like woah stop. He said “just stretch out the waistband all the way around. So, I did and he let me go.
Edit: when I got my clothes back it was same deal. They had all of us that were leaving in a holding cell together. Then, about 20 mins before letting us go. They brought us out lined us up and had us strip and get redressed.
I should clarify I was a state ran prison corrections officer. I didn’t want to do jail given the fact a lot of the people brought in are still drunk/high and potentially (likely) very upset, and possibly combative or resistant, especially in the town I was in the PD were a shit show as many tend to be. Lot more hassle. Once they get to prison, barring a burst balloon of drugs occasionally, they’re sober for the most part unless they got money, then whatever gets smuggled in is their game.
Yeah, the jails and prisons here (in Alabama) are notoriously dangerous and all around awful. When I got arrested I was taken to a jail cell in Birmingham. I was put in a tiny cell with 8 other guys. There was no AC it was August and Alabama summers are brutal. It was at least 90 in there. Plus there was a toilet full of feces and urine that wouldn’t flush.
After about 6 hours of that a cop took me and one other guy to county. I think that’s because our charges were potentially felonies. I say potentially because mine was a felony but I did a drug program that made it not a felony.
So they strip searched us and put us in a holding cell. By this point I hadn’t had a fix in about 24 hours. I was sweating bullets. I was puking bile. I could barely talk.
After, that they took us to our cells. When I got to mine the guys pretty much instantly gave me a bunk and said that they’d leave me alone as much as they could. It just so happened that even though we didn’t know each other we had grown up in the same town outside Birmingham.
I assume I was there for about 24 hours. They served me 3 meals and I gave away 3 meals. They came and got me told me to sign my own bond. Then at 2 am kicked me and like 15 other guys out on the street.
I walked like 5 miles to get to the place I was staying at the time. Still sick and puking the whole way. It was unpleasant to say the least.
I’m clean now. I even got off the methadone. I am stone cold sober, and it fucking sucks. Alcohol makes me feel like shit. Weed makes me paranoid. Don’t even get me started on uppers. I fucking hate uppers. I tried micro dosing mushrooms. That is awesome, but it gives me migraines sometimes. Oh well, c’est la vie.
I see no issue with treating religious clothing exactly as what it is, clothing. Just because someone chooses to believe a piece of clothing is magic doesn’t make it so.
If god doesn’t like it he can come down here and say something.
What does a ‘strip search’ entail here? Not that I’m excusing the officers actions here - it’s clearly reprehensible to be so callous about religious clothing and for it to have been observed by others via the tv - but I feel very differently if they streamed her naked vs clothed without her abaya
You might feel differently, but she might not considering what it would mean to her personally based on her culture and religion. I think what matters is that either would be quite violating in this context.
Yeah, I do agree - she was clearly uncomfortable, either way
Exactly, facts of the case matter and the headline is rolling two controversial issues in this case into one.
I believe the fact you are looking for is that she was searched in the nude in a private room with only one female officer (which itself is against the local policy). But afterwards…
This is pretty fucked up.
In my experience a strip search can mean anything from get completely naked squat and cough to get down to your underwear and pull out the waistband all the way around.
Also it’s always been in front of other arrested people.
I mean, I’ve conducted probably quite a few if not at least a couple hundred strip searches myself when I was a Corrections officer. We used privacy screens and even if there was a lot of other inmates around, they had no visual of the stripped inmate, and were usually about 10 feet down the hall with a third C/O while me and my partner would conduct the search. Any religious articles like necklaces with a large enough pendant or cross, a kufi or what have you would be taken and searched, but I always immediately gave them back to the individual to put back on if they wanted/needed to. Typically, one officer is searching their clothes while the other directs the inmates to follow the steps, which is usually shake hands through hair, bend the ears, open the mouth and lift the tongue, raise arms, lift their junk, turn around lift both feet so the soles face you, then they spead their butt.
Well, I have been strip searched twice. The first time was at the Jefferson county jail in Birmingham, Al. They take you around the side of this wall where a deputy sheriff (they use deputies instead of corrections officers) stood there with a trustee and another dude that got brought in same time as me, but unrelated to me. We had to get naked, spread our cheeks, and squat and cough, lift our junk, etc. We were given some orange scrubs and long ass flip flops. Then the deputy took our clothes while we were getting our jail clothes on, and the trustee asked us if when we got out he could have our cigs. That time I was so dope sick that the other dudes in the jail took pity on me , and gave me a spot to be alone, and because I couldn’t eat and kept puking they let me sign my own bond. Plus it was a possession charge. I got caught with a gram of heroin.
The second time. The only ride I could find to get to court for the above charge was one of my old dope friends. We got pulled over and she had needles in the car. They gave me one just because I was with her.
Anyway, that time a cop took me into an office and shut the door. He had me strip down to my boxers, and because of how my last experience was I started taking my boxers off. He was like woah stop. He said “just stretch out the waistband all the way around. So, I did and he let me go.
Edit: when I got my clothes back it was same deal. They had all of us that were leaving in a holding cell together. Then, about 20 mins before letting us go. They brought us out lined us up and had us strip and get redressed.
I should clarify I was a state ran prison corrections officer. I didn’t want to do jail given the fact a lot of the people brought in are still drunk/high and potentially (likely) very upset, and possibly combative or resistant, especially in the town I was in the PD were a shit show as many tend to be. Lot more hassle. Once they get to prison, barring a burst balloon of drugs occasionally, they’re sober for the most part unless they got money, then whatever gets smuggled in is their game.
Yeah, the jails and prisons here (in Alabama) are notoriously dangerous and all around awful. When I got arrested I was taken to a jail cell in Birmingham. I was put in a tiny cell with 8 other guys. There was no AC it was August and Alabama summers are brutal. It was at least 90 in there. Plus there was a toilet full of feces and urine that wouldn’t flush.
After about 6 hours of that a cop took me and one other guy to county. I think that’s because our charges were potentially felonies. I say potentially because mine was a felony but I did a drug program that made it not a felony.
So they strip searched us and put us in a holding cell. By this point I hadn’t had a fix in about 24 hours. I was sweating bullets. I was puking bile. I could barely talk.
After, that they took us to our cells. When I got to mine the guys pretty much instantly gave me a bunk and said that they’d leave me alone as much as they could. It just so happened that even though we didn’t know each other we had grown up in the same town outside Birmingham.
I assume I was there for about 24 hours. They served me 3 meals and I gave away 3 meals. They came and got me told me to sign my own bond. Then at 2 am kicked me and like 15 other guys out on the street.
I walked like 5 miles to get to the place I was staying at the time. Still sick and puking the whole way. It was unpleasant to say the least.
I’m clean now. I even got off the methadone. I am stone cold sober, and it fucking sucks. Alcohol makes me feel like shit. Weed makes me paranoid. Don’t even get me started on uppers. I fucking hate uppers. I tried micro dosing mushrooms. That is awesome, but it gives me migraines sometimes. Oh well, c’est la vie.
I see no issue with treating religious clothing exactly as what it is, clothing. Just because someone chooses to believe a piece of clothing is magic doesn’t make it so.
If god doesn’t like it he can come down here and say something.