A Texas attorney has accused a judge of punishing his client as the lawyer was not wearing pants in the courtroom, Yahoo News reported.
James Lee Bright, a criminal law attorney in Dallas, called Judge Etta Mullin out for discriminating against him due to the attire of his clothes, KDFW FOX 4 News reported. He has requested Mullin to be removed from the case.
It all started when Bright was refused to be let inside the courtroom by the judge for wearing shorts instead of pants. The following Monday, he was declined entry again.
However, Bright was wearing shorts on those particular days due to an injury. According to Yahoo News, He had gotten knee surgery done just two weeks prior to the incident.
"I have tubes that come out of my leg that make it prohibitive to wear [pants]. This connects to my ice machine...that is a way of taking down the swelling in my leg. I'm also incapable of putting on long pants by myself," he told KDFW.
After Mullin refused to even hear an explanation regarding the matter, Bright called foul. Some attorneys have come out in support of Bright.
David Finn, a criminal law attorney also based in Dallas, told KDFW, "There's a good reason that he's not wearing pants, and that's the knee surgery that he had, and he's following the doctor's orders. He's got a handicap-parking permit. I mean, right now, he's temporarily handicapped. It's the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - its black letter law."
In order to "cover his predicament," Bright is looking into the Americans with Disabilities Act. But he's also displeased with the fact that his client is not getting proper justice due to issues over clothing.
"[Judge Mullin] is denying him fair hearings under the Sixth Amendment and holding my physical condition against me, so that I'm unable to practice in her court currently," he told KDFW.
Judge Mullin issued a response to KDFW and said, "I can't comment on any pending matters out of this court because the attorney involved has filed a motion to recuse and the law doesn't allow me to take any further action on this matter."
