The First Amendment And A Courtroom Dress Code

A friend writes about the local rules promulgated by the Fauquier County Circuit Court.  Specifically, Rule 1:6 concerns "Courtroom Decorum", and my friend was particularly interested in the section of that rule involving the maintenance of "vibrator mode" and the court's position on stomach exposure.  However, a different passage caught my eye: "T-shirts are not to contain inappropriate language or images."  It seems to me that the court ought to read Cohen v. California.

On April 26, 1968, Paul Cohen entered the Los Angeles County Courthouse, where he was testifying as a witness, wearing a jacket bearing the words "Fuck the Draft" which were plainly visible. There were women and children present.  Cohen was arrested. He testified that he wore the jacket knowing that the words were on the jacket as a means of informing the public of the depth of his feelings against the Vietnam War and the draft.  Cohen was convicted of disturbing the peace, and was sentenced to thrity days in jail.   The United States Supreme Court overturned the conviction, since it turns out that there are certain constitutional guaranties regarding free speech.

Although the present Supreme Court is something less than fanatical about the doctrine of stare decisis, I think this case would go the same way if it was decided today, with Scalia joining the left wing.  In any event, the case is still "good law" as they say.  You can hear an audio recording of the oral arguments in Cohen here.