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Public: Law: Courtroom
New wigs for judges   (+10, -3)  [vote for, against]
Modernise the legal system's costumes

The UK's legal system is steeped in tradition and custom. Judges and the like claim that the wigs they wear give them dignity and authority. Most people think they just make them look silly and out of touch, if not a little senile.

I propose to introduce a new set of wigs for legal professionals to wear. This may include, for example, the afro wig which is at first awarded nominally only to those who have been in service since the 1970's.

This change in appearance would make defendants, witnesses and children feel more at ease in court, facilitating the legal process (maybe). The people made to wear them may complain that they make them look silly, but this would achieve consensus between them and the general public for the first time in centuries.
-- -alx, Jan 21 2002

(?) Heads http://www.mardigra.../images/artists.jpg
giant and disembodied [thumbwax, Mar 25 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Here come da Judge!
-- thumbwax, Jan 21 2002


Proposed:
Carrot Top
Albert Einstein
Yul Brynner
Bozo the Clown
Eraserhead
-- phoenix, Jan 21 2002


I recently did jury service. The whole business is so nerve wracking that myself and another likeminded juror spent two weeks giggling like naughty school girls, it was only the wigs and dignity of the court that kept us focussed on the business at hand.
-- po, Jan 21 2002


You mean like Aristotle's 'Masked Judges' idea (see category links at top of page)?
-- -alx, Jan 21 2002


I know that was poor, waugs, but there really isn't any need to respond quite so harshly.

But yes, a möbius chainsaw would probably be the best tool for that particular job.
-- -alx, Jan 21 2002


No way! I think we ought to adopt the British courtroom costume over here in the states. I'm a law student -- I'd be up for it. Wigs and robes for everyone!
-- cpt kangarooski, Feb 21 2002


Must say I have to disagree with you on that one, Mon Capitain. Having spent a fair while in the Sheriff Court in Glasgow (though not in the dock) watching corpulent lawyers get tangled up in their moth-eaten gowns, I have come to the conclusion that UK courtroom dress does nothing more than make the wearers look like fools.
-- calum, Feb 21 2002


Well since they _are_ fools, they should at least look like them, right? Anything else would be criminal misrepresentation.
I wonder what the link is between UK lawyers and the other commonly wigged profession, clowns. Is there a cause-effect relationship here, or more of a feedback loop at work, and which spawned the other?
-- RayfordSteele, Mar 25 2002


Mohawk! Mohawk!
-- nick_n_uit, Oct 09 2002


Same wigs, but add speakers, coolers, cameras, heaters, infrared tracking and game players and so on.

and batteries.
-- popbottle, May 19 2013


They just make me laugh.... I've never had much respect for authority anyway, so if I ever have to go to court, I'm going to wear the stupidist wig I can find.
-- xenzag, May 19 2013



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