Judge of the Day: William Sosnay

Dressing up for court shouldn’t be hard. Dark suit, white shirt, and appropriate neckwear.
But what constitutes appropriate neckwear? From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via How Appealing):

Justice may be blind, but Milwaukee County Circuit Judge William Sosnay’s sense of courtroom fashion is not.

In the courtroom of the pompadoured judge long known as a fastidious dresser, a sentencing hearing in a misdemeanor case was delayed for three hours Tuesday after a veteran prosecutor turned up for court wearing an ascot.

A courthouse rule requires all lawyers to wear neckties, but prosecutor Warren Zier’s occasional choice of creative cravats drew the judge’s ire.

One haberdasher, contacted by the newspaper, respectfully dissented:

“Really?” Bob Norris, manager of Harleys for Men haberdashery in Shorewood, said by phone when told of the courthouse happenings. “Ascots aren’t worn very much but would be considered formal.”

The silk neck loop, worn under the shirt around the base of the neck, is an unusual touch, Norris said, a wardrobe choice one might wear to a fancy dinner party. Hugh Hefner has worn them for decades….

Ah, but maybe prosecutors don’t want to take fashion cues from a porn publisher.
What’s your view? Was the judge ridiculous for flipping out over an ascot? Or was the prosecutor ridiculous for wearing one?
Post a comment, and take our fashion poll, after the jump.


Update: We see that Peter Lattman, who’s obsessed with neckwear, beat us to this story by 15 minutes. Read the WSJ Law Blog post over here.

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Not-so-natty neckwear raises judge’s hackles [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via How Appealing]
The Law Blog Ascot Society!? [WSJ Law Blog]

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