I guess some people didn’t get the memo that said, “If you ever go into a courtroom, you have to dress appropriately and talk and behave like you have some sense.” Apparently, 19-year-old Nneka Eneorj, an alternate juror in a Manhattan courtroom, didn’t get it.
Eneorj was sitting in the courtroom with a white on black T-shirt that read “Who the F— is Kanye West?” in two-inch letters. The uninformed observer would wonder if that message is for or against West.
Just as the defendant was about to take the stand, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber noticed Eneorj’s T-shirt. He ordered all of the jurors from the courtroom and ordered her to approach the bench.
“Do you think it’s appropriate to wear a shirt that says f— on it in my courtroom?” the judge asked Eneorj. Her excuse was that she had on a sweater, which, by the way, she didn’t have buttoned up. The judge dismissed her from the courtroom and from the case. According to rolling out‘s research, the court website says the following regarding dress code: “While no formal dress code exists, jurors are requested to dress in a manner respectful to the Court.” Undoubtedly, jurors are given this information before attending court.
“Sounds like a personal problem,” Eneorj reportedly said to the judge as she left the courtroom. Once outside the courtroom, she said, “It’s supposed to be a First Amendment issue, but I don’t open my mouth. They’d better give me my check,” she said regarding the $40-a-day pay jurors are promised.
Sounds like a 19-year-old. I just wonder if there was an alternative motive here. She could have wanted to be removed from the case or simply wanted attention from the media. If either was her wish, she got them both. –arnell pharr
