[bboop]

I agree. The judge had no authority to ask him to remove it. Very dangerous precedence. The FF would not be happy. (Founding Fathers).

[OldDeckHand]

"The judge had no authority to ask him to remove it. Very dangerous precedence."

There have been dozens and dozens of cases where trial courts were found to not be in error when the Court instructed a witness, a defendant, a plaintiff or a lawyer to remove religious or political adornments. This particular case is hardly precedential in this regard.

See LaRocca v. Gold, a decision from the early '80s in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court held that it was not reversible error when the court ordered LaRocca (a Catholic priest who was also a practicing attorney) to remove his collar when he represented his client in court.