BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A lawsuit is being filed by the Council on American-Islamic Rights (CAIR) against the Warren County Regional Jail for allegedly violating a Bowling Green woman’s rights while she was there.

What You Need To Know

  • The Council on American-Islamic Rights has filed a lawsuit against the Warren County Jail claiming misconduct

  • Jane Doe, a woman who practices Muslim faith, filed the lawsuit saying she was forced to take a booking photo without her hijab

  • The lawsuit also claims the woman was mistreated when she was being held at the Warren County Jail

  • Chief Jailer Stephen Harm says there are exaggerations and inaccuracies in the lawsuit, and says Doe’s constitutional rights were not violated 

The woman in the court documents—identified only as Jane Doe—is a long-time resident of Bowling Green and is a practicing Muslim. 

The complaint claims Jane Doe was “subjected to an unnecessary full-body strip search that was filmed and projected on a TV screen for all those present in the jail lobby to see.” The complaint also says she was allegedly forced to remove her hijab for her booking photo, which goes against her faith and would violate her constitutionally protected rights. 

Aya Beydoun, a legal fellow with CAIR, said Doe was not comfortable with the process.

Beydoun said, “She asked, explicitly, isn’t this my constitutional rights, and I should be be able to keep this on. Long story short, they forced her to remove it, otherwise there would be consequences.”

The complaint says the photo was published on the jail’s website.

The lawsuit names Warren County Judge Doug Gorman, Chief Jailer Stephen Harmon, Deputy Jailer Brook Lindsey Harp, Officer Benjamin Carroll, and mentions two other unidentified officers, all of whom declined or were unavailable to comment.

According to CAIR, the purpose of the lawsuit is to have the jail stop taking booking photos of Muslim women without their hijab and to have all images of Jane Doe without her hijab removed from public and private records.

Beydoun said, “Our client Jane Doe has a driver’s license and a U.S. Passport and both of those things feature her photo with her hijab. As long as the face is identifiable, it should not be an issue.”

In a news release, Chief Jailer Harmon said they are aware of the lawsuit, and admits there was an incident at the jail. But Harmon says that the lawsuit contains exaggerations and inaccuracies and Doe’s constitutional rights were not violated. The jailer added, “Warren County and its employees will vigorously defend their actions taken on this matter.”