Lincoln's Last Trial--The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency by Dan Abrams & David Fisher

Author:Dan Abrams & David Fisher
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Published: 2018-04-04T17:45:39+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

The oppressive heat had put Judge Edward Y. Rice in a sour mood, as did the knowledge that he was going to have to spend much of the day arguing the law with Abe Lincoln, Steve Logan and John Palmer. Lincoln may not have been able to cite the statutes by number, but he knew what the law said, and he was never too shy about reminding judges of it. Logan often reveled in a display of his own brilliance. And Palmer was a stickler for citations, precedents and the smallest details of legal history.

Judge Rice had stripped to his undergarments before buttoning the robe, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible. No one would know that though, not even his clerk. Judges had been wearing the black or dark violet robes since the passage of the Judges Rules of 1635 and no one ever wondered what was worn under it. Well, maybe they do in Scottish courts, he mused, giving rise to his first and isolated smile of the day. But here in the city of Springfield, the state of Illinois, and in the United States of America, no one paid much attention to what you wore or, as in this case, didn’t wear. Far as Judge Rice was concerned, there were three advantages to the judge’s robe: it kept you warm in the winter, cool in the summer and putting it on was like coating yourself in respect. It didn’t seem to matter what man was wearing it; it was that robe that brought with it respect.

While wearing a robe was not an absolute requirement, Judge Rice chose to wear one when sitting in Springfield, as it lent decorum to the courtroom. He believed it was the majesty of the robe—combined with a good snap of his gavel—that shut up quarrelsome lawyers when he needed them shut up. Of course out on the circuit he dressed less formally in view of the casual surroundings, as well as the reality that packing and carrying the heavy robe from town to hamlet added an unnecessary burden. And keeping it clean in those places where mud floors were more common than wood was almost an impossibility. So most judges wore whatever clothes they were carrying with them, depending on the aura of justice to cloak them with respect.

Even after all his years on the bench, the irony of courtroom life continued to confound Judge Rice. People wanted to believe that donning the robes of office and sitting behind a high desk guaranteed some kind of uniform application of the law to every courtroom, which was no more true than a sailor claiming that every storm was the same. Even he had to admit that he brought a different temperament into the courtroom every session, and as much as he tried to avoid it, there could be no doubt that those feelings were reflected in the way he ran the proceedings. Woe to the attorney who objected too vehemently the morning after Mrs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.