As the Alabama Department of Corrections prepared to execute Joe Nathan James Jr. on Thursday night, against the wishes of his victim’s family members, an agency official told a journalist that she would not be allowed to witness the killing because her skirt was too short.
The journalist, AL.com’s Ivana Hrynkiw, had worn the skirt to previous (3) executions “without incident,” she wrote in a statement. Even after pulling the skirt down to her hips to make the hemline fall lower, she was still told it was “not appropriate,” she wrote. Determined to do her job, Hrynkiw borrowed waterproof fisherman’s wader pants from a photographer she had never met, stuffing the suspenders under her shirt to keep the pants from falling down.
The Department of Corrections spokesperson determined this was a more professional outfit, but proceeded to take issue with Hrynkiw’s open-toe high-heeled shoes, claiming they were “too revealing.” After changing into tennis shoes she had in her car, Hrynkiw was finally permitted to cover the execution.
Here’s her report on Alabama Death Row inmate Joe Nathan James Jr. who was executed by lethal injection.
