Woman files suit over religious query during traffic stop
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana woman says in a lawsuit that a state trooper questioned her during a traffic stop about her religious beliefs and handed her a church pamphlet that asks readers to acknowledge being a sinner.
Ellen Bogan of Huntington alleges in her federal lawsuit that Trooper Brian Hamilton violated her constitutional rights during the stop in August on U.S. 27 in eastern Indiana’s Union County.
Bogan tells The Indianapolis Star that the trooper asked her several times about her faith and that she didn’t feel she could leave or refuse to answer.
State police spokesman Capt. David Bursten said the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation but that it doesn’t have a specific policy that addresses officers who distribute religious materials.
