Woman told to ditch bra to enter court

A Bonners Ferry woman says she was humiliated when security guards at the federal courthouse in Coeur d'Alene told her she'd have to remove her underwire bra to get inside. Lori Plato said she was going into the courthouse for a court hearing Sept. 20 when the metal detector went off as she passed through security.

"When I walked through, the gentleman said, "'Do you have an underwire bra on?'." Plato said. "I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'You have to remove it.' "

But there was nowhere private to remove her bra, she said. The guards suggested she go out to her car to do it.



Instead, Plato — who describes herself as "not petite" said she removed her bra while her husband tried to shield her from view of others in the crowded lobby by holding up his coat.

She said she had to put the bra on a conveyor belt and send it through an x-ray machine. "After I got through the metal detector and waited for my bra to come through the conveyor belt, one of the security guards said, "'That's a girl,'" Plato said. She thought the guard was making fun of her.

U.S. Marshal Patrick McDonald said Plato wasn't ordered to remove her bra, she was told she couldn't pass through security wearing it. He also said Plato is the first person he knows of who has been asked to remove a bra at the courthouse. Ordinarily, bras don't set off the metal detectors, he said. "I don't think they're considered a weapon, really, the last time I looked," he said.