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 pants at all, much less a jail jumpsuit.
“What the hell is going on?” an astounded Judge Amber Wolf asked when the woman was brought in, according to WDRB Channel 41.
The woman, who had been arrested after she did not complete a diversion program following a shoplifting charge, explained to the judge that she had been held for days but that the jail staff “refused to give her pants and any kind of hygiene products that she needed.”
Wolf then took out her cell phone to call director of Metro Corrections Mark Bolton and demand to know “why there is a female defendant standing in front of me with no pants on.”
Jail officials explained to the judge that the woman was wearing very short athletic shorts hidden under her long shirt, but Wolf asked that they find something for her to wear: “anything, I don’t care what it is.”
Jail spokesman Steve Durham said that the woman had not been in custody long enough to be issued a jumpsuit.
“This is pretty standard that when individuals are arrested, they remain in the clothing that they’ve been arrested in,” Durham explained. “Especially for the first 72 hours.”
But Metro Corrections Deputy Director Dwayne Clark, who brought the defendant clothing, said, “Dressed like she was, she should have been changed into a jumpsuit. I gotta look into why she wasn’t.”
After the woman received clothes, Wolf told her that her treatment was “completely inhumane” and said, “I’m sorry you had to go through this.”
