THE ROBING ROOM

I observed a hearing in which this judge presiding on a TRO application that meant a lot to a plaintiff who was in danger of losing a house. This judge had not read the papers, and falsely accused plaintiff's counsel of not having included an important element. The plaintiff's counsel then pointed out the supposedly missing element, by page and line. This seemingly only angered the judge more; he then falsely accused the plaintiff's counsel of having an 'attitude.' It was the rudest display of temper and ego that I have ever seen in a federal courtroom. Perhaps his life tenure appointment has gone to his head. Whatever others' experiences with him, on this occasion he acted like a rude and petty tyrant. He could have denied the TRO application without shouting at and belittling the plaintiff's counsel.