(Jamaica Observer) KINGSTON and St Andrew Parish Judge Maxine Ellis has sent a strong warning to individuals who dress inappropriately for court, after turning away two accused who were clad in extremely tight pants last Tuesday.
When Odel Lambert and Kashief Smith attempted to enter the courtroom’s dock, Judge Ellis, who was furious about their appearance, told them that they were “not at court”.
The police, who were manning the door, told Smith — who was dressed in a blue shirt and a pair of white trousers that fitted similar to leggings — to step outside the courtroom and fix his shirt that was hanging out his his pants, which was below his waist.
“We are going to water down the court until we look like joke,” Ellis said.
A flamboyant Lambert, whose chino pants and blue shirt were equally as tight, stood close to the door before Ellis ordered him out of the courtroom and issued a bench warrant that was stayed.
“You will get your date,” Ellis told Lambert and Smith, who are facing charges of robbery with aggravation and are jointly charged with Mario Morgan, Shamar Harrison and Dalton Rowe.
The judge, while stressing that the integrity and the standards of the court must be preserved, said there was a time when men used to wear tailored pants and women used to wear hats to court.
Insisting that the standards have fallen, Ellis said some women are purchasing T-shirts outside the courthouse and wearing it over halter tops to court.
At the same Ellis argued that the critics will say, “People poor, let them wear what they have.”
“Them look poor to you?” Ellis questioned.
“Sergeant, don’t allow one more of them up in here. A bet you going to see a change. Nothing has meaning any more; people need to adhere to the dress code. Look at them when you go downstairs… You can’t believe they coming from court,” Ellis said, prior to setting June 21 as the next court date.
