Secaucus Magistrate George W. King explained today, in a statement issued to the press, why he instructed an Orthodox Jewish defendant to remove his skull-cap in court. His action against Morris Steigman was protested yesterday by the New Jersey regions of the American Jewish Congress as a “direct impairment of religious freedom.”
The magistrate said in his statement that in his 37 years of law practice he had never witnessed anyone wearing a hat in court and that he had never heard of a law or rule covering such a situation. He pointed out that it had always been customary and traditional for a person to remove his hat in court, and added that the defendant had refused, at the request of the court officer, to remove his “cap;” he therefore informed the defendant that he would have to do so.
The Judge said that Mr. Steigman “said it violated his religious principles but he removed it without any further comment.” The judge added that there were no threats made of holding the Brooklyn man in contempt of court.
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