Alabama: Journalist stopped from attending execution because her skirt was ‘too short’
Story highlights
Ivana Hrynkiw, a reporter and managing producer with AL.com, who has attended seven executions in her career, was told by a prison official that her dress did not meet the dress regulations.
Even as Alabama Department of Corrections prepared to execute a death-row inmate Thursday night, a journalist was stopped from witnessing it. Reason? Apparently her skirt was too short and violated the “prison dress code.”
Ivana Hrynkiw, a reporter and managing producer with AL.com, who has attended seven executions in her career, was told by a prison official that her dress did not meet the dress regulations.
“I have worn this skirt to prior executions without incident, to work, professional events and more and I believe it is more than appropriate. At 5′10″ with my heels on, I am a tall and long-legged person,” she said on Twitter.
However, she tried to salvage the situation by pulling the skirt down to the hips to increase its length. But the prison official wasn’t up for it. Hrynkiw then borrowed a pair of fisherman’s waders from a local television photographer, The Guardian reported.
trending now
)
Arsenal thunder into Champions League last 16, blasting six past Lens on frigid London night
)
Not a meteorite, but India's Deccan Traps led to extinction of dinosaurs from Earth: study
)
Kim Jong Un’s sister calls out USA for 'double standards' over N Korea's spy satellite
)
US charges Indian national with conspiracy to assassinate Sikh separatist
)
Manchester United on brink of another Champions League exit after Galatasaray fightback
)
Top 10 world news: Hamas claims infant hostage dead, Nawaz Sharif acquitted, and more
)
Piggybacking on USA's allegations, Trudeau urges India to take Canada's claims seriously
)
BCCI likely to ask Rohit Sharma to lead in South Africa T20I series: Reports
)
Explained: Did Turkey benefit as it delayed Sweden's NATO bid?
)
Supermassive black hole in our galaxy spinning rapidly, altering space-time around it: scientists
)
'My answer is...': Israeli PM Netanyahu reveals what will happen after truce deal expires
)
Freed hostage says she met Hamas chief in Gaza, asked how he wasn't 'ashamed' of himself
)
Govt lists 18 bills, including on criminal laws, for winter session of parliament
)
India: Cyclone brewing in Bay of Bengal could bring very heavy rainfall in Chennai
)
Google forced to cough $74 million annually after reaching deal with Canada to keep news in search results
“I put on the man’s pants and attached the suspenders underneath my shirt to stay up,” she wrote in her Twitter post.
The matter was still far from resolved as now Hrynkiw’s open-toed shoes became a problem. She changed into a pair of tennis sneakers she had in her car.
“This was an uncomfortable situation, and I felt embarrassed to have my body and my clothes questioned in front of a room of people I mostly had never met,” Hrynkiw’s post further said.
Another journalist, an Associated Press reporter, Kim Chandler, was also subjected to a full-body inspection. She was made to stand and had the length of her clothing checked. However, her dress was cleared for the execution.
Also read | US: 2 dead, 1 injured in Alabama church shooting
Reacting to the entire episode, Kelly Ann Scott, editor in chief and vice president of content for Alabama Media Group, in a statement on AL.com said, “This was sexist and an egregious breach of professional conduct. And it should not happen to any other reporter again.”
On Friday, a formal complaint was filed by AL.com with the Alabama Department of Corrections, Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall.
The Associated Press has also sent a letter to Ivey asking for an investigation. It has also asked to “ensure such behavior is not tolerated and does not occur again.”
(With inputs from agencies)
WATCH WION LIVE HERE
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
