The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-18
RESPECT FOR COURTS AND
 JITnGES

It has often been observed and remark ed on that there is not enough respect felt for the courts of this country, and that this want of respect for the judges may have much to do with the frequent lack of respect for the decisions of the courts It is not a matter of showing un- due deference to the men on the bench. but to those men as judges, who are to interpret and enforce the laws, and who are the highest officials in our judicihl system. That there may be men on the bench who are not entitled to the respect of their fellow-men is true enough, but that does not, or should not, lessen our respect for them in their official posi- tions
 The Bar Association of Augusta, Ga. at a recent meeting. with the object of increasing the deference which should be felt and exhibited towards their judges. adopted this resolution:
 Resolved by the Augusta Bar Associa- tion, That at the opening of each days session of the Superior and City Courts, all members of the bar present should arise. face the bench, and bow respect fully to the presiding judge as he is about to assume his seat
 This was a good and proper position, and the example might well be followed by the legal fraternity of Alabama as to all courts. It is not a mark of servility or in any sense humiliation for the at torneys in a court room to show this re- spect to the presiding judge when he takes his seat, and no right thinking at torney could feel that he had at all low cred himself in the estimation of him. self and others by this simple act of deference and courtesy to the bench. It is of course understood that this respect full salutation is not necessarily made to the individual who occupies the judges seat but to the position held by him. There is little reason to doubt that if those whose business it is to practice and expound the law, and who should be ex- pected to feel most reverence for it, will set the example of treating the judges with the deference which belongs to their high position it would have good effect on the spectators and others. An ex- ample of this kind from the lawyers themselves will undoubtedly be produc- tive of an increased respect for the law and it's judges.
 In the Supreme Court of the United States and of several of the State Su- preme Courts, the judges wear black robes while on the bench. and there are many who hold that 1t would be well if all the courts should adopt that form. On this subject, The Washington Post says:
 There caa be no reasonable objection to a return to the discarded custom of Cowned judges in all courts, national, State and municipal 1t would undoubt- edly impress the mind of the average i citizen with a higher sense of the dignity of the judicial office than can be derived l from seeing the judge in citizens dress. l There is much more in this idea than the | democratic American mind is ready to admit We have carried opposition to 1 Old World forms and ceremonies too far. | That movement has failed to take account ! of some of the inherent and ineradicable l clements of human nature. A judge In a l black robe is no greater or better man 1 than he was before he put it on or will | be when he takes it off. But that robe 1 sets him apart from the members of the | bar and keeps them in mind of the fact that while in the performance of his off
 cal duty, he is, in one sense, as The l Chronicle puts 1t, more than a man that he is the law, the court"
 It may be true, as The Post says, that
 a judge in a black gown is no better
 than one in 8 business suit, hut We are
 not so sure that he will not feel the dignity of his position more. If we could imagine Justice of the Supreme Court
 taking his seat on the bench in his shirt | sleeves, or wearing blouse, we might think of an official who had no respect
 for himself and would not command tn
 respect of others, It is not improbable | that a judge in a robe of solemn blacl