Judge orders portraits of mostly white past judges tossed from courthouse so

[Sybil Ludington]

so black defendant can get a fair trial

A state judge in the liberal bastion of Fairfield County, Va., in the D.C. suburbs, has ordered the removal portraits of past judges in advance of a January 4 trial of an African-American defendant because of what might amount to bad optics that, in turn, could adversely affect the outcome of a trial.


In an 11-page opinion letter which was issued in response to a motion filed by the defendant, Judge David Bernhard, a former defense attorney, observed that 45 0f the 47 judges whose portraits are on display in the courtrooms of Fairfax Circuit Court in northern Virginia are white, and the decor needs to change “in the furtherance of justice.”


“[T]he Court is concerned the portraits may serve as unintended but implicit symbols that suggest the courtroom may be a place historically administered by whites for whites, and that thus others are of a lesser standing in the dispensing of justice. The Defendant’s constitutional right to a fair jury trial stands paramount over the countervailing interest of paying homage to the tradition of adorning courtrooms with portraits that honor past jurists.


“Consequently, the jury trial of the Defendant, and of any other defendant tried before the undersigned judge, shall henceforth proceed in a courtroom devoid of portraits in the furtherance of justice,” the judge concluded.


continued:
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/12...ampaign=bizpac

[Sybil Ludington]

How did a judge this stupid ever pass the bar?

[Peter1469]

Critical Race Theory was advanced in the US first through the law schools.

[carolina73]

He must be looking for advancement in the Democrat Party.

[EvilCat Breath]

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.
George Orwell, 1984

[DGUtley]

How did a judge this stupid ever pass the bar?

I read the entire opinion. Let's say that you are an uneducated, barely literate, poor white woman and you are charged with a serious crime in a predominantly black county. You walk into the courtroom with your black lawyer and there's a black judge and a black prosecutor - and pictures of 47 black judges with two white judges adorning the courtroom walls. Do you think that would be a symbol of black dominance? Do you think that it might cross your mind that you you might not get treated equally to the blacks that walk in that courtroom?

I'm not saying I do or don't buy it - I want to reread the decision again, but for purposes of generating discussion on issues sometimes I find it helpful to put myself in their shoes.

[Captain Obvious]

I read the entire opinion. Let's say that you are an uneducated, barely literate, poor white woman and you are charged with a serious crime in a predominantly black county. You walk into the courtroom with your black lawyer and there's a black judge and a black prosecutor - and pictures of 47 black judges with two white judges adorning the courtroom walls. Do you think that would be a symbol of black dominance? Do you think that it might cross your mind that you you might not get treated equally to the blacks that walk in that courtroom?

I'm not saying I do or don't buy it - I want to reread the decision again, but for purposes of generating discussion on issues sometimes I find it helpful to put myself in their shoes.

It might be like voting in North Korea with huge portraits of two Kim's displayed by the voting box surrounded by armed North Korean guards.

[DGUtley]

It might be like voting in North Korea with huge portraits of two Kim's displayed by the voting box surrounded by armed North Korean guards.

LOL. Not quite but your point is well taken.