Pandemonium in the Courthouse
Judge Oliphant scolds Walla Walla lawyers for their conduct and demands better behavior in the courtroom.
The fall term of the District Court of the First Judicial District convened in Walla Walla on October 3, 1864. Judge E.P. Oliphant noted that the court room was disorderly and addressed the attorneys: 'Gentlemen of the bar, I am afraid this is going to be a noisy room. There must be order in the court room. Another thing, gentlemen, these side thrusts and personal allusions passing between opposing counsel are improper and uncalled for; do not let the business of your clients be turned into matters between yourselves.' Later, during a session, attorneys engaged in a heated argument over a refusal to surrender a document, with motions made to strike a name from the rolls. The spectators looked on, left to draw their own inferences about the state of the court's authority.
“Instead of becoming gravity, dignity, and professional courtesy showing forth prominently in the Temple of Justice, low sarcasm and ribald jests... have served to convert the Fair Sanctum into a perfect Pandemonium.”
Public faith in civic institutions often hinges on the professional decorum of those representing them. This 1864 account of a chaotic, bickering courtroom mirrors modern concerns about the erosion of civility in political and judicial discourse.
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