Professional attire can go a recollective way in commune the story of regard you have for your military control and the people around you . Lawyers do n’t show up for motor lodge in short pants and politician do n’t often address bunch in bootless T - shirt .
So it suffer to reason that the in high spirits court in the country should have a dress codification that reflects the gravity of their business , which is why most judges , let in judges on theSupreme Court , are almost always bedecked in black robes . Why disastrous ?
AsReader ’s Digestreports , judges donning black robes is atraditionthat goes back to judicial proceedings in European countries for 100 prior to the initial sitting of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1790 . Despite that , there ’s no disc of whether the Justices conk for a ignominious tout ensemble . That was n’t officially recorded until 1792 — but the robes were n’t a wholly solid semblance . From 1792 to 1800 , the robes were blackened with red and snowy accents on the sleeves and in the front .

It is probable that Chief Justice John Marshall , whojoinedas the 4th chief justice of the Supreme Court in 1801 , led the shift to a inglorious robe — most likely because a gown without distinctive grading reinforces the idea that justice is unreasoning . The all - contraband tradition presently spread to other Union evaluator .
Butaccordingto former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor , there is no write or official insurance policy about the robes , and the Justices are free to source them however they like — typically from the same companies who fit out college alumnus and chorus singer . It ’s sure enough possible to break with tradition and go far on the bench without one , as Justice Hugo Black did in 1969 ; Chief Justice William Rehnquist once add Au stripes to one of his sleeves . But for the most part , judges opt for basic Black person — a subject matter that they ’re ready to do the law .
[ h / tReader ’s Digest ]