A muted protest for a talkative attorney

This week’s Legal Times reported a strange spat in which a D.C. Superior Court judge briefly jailed a public defender for arguing on behalf of her client a little too vigorously (After a protracted argument over whether a defendant was a homeless man, Judge John Bayly Jr. ordered Public Defender Liyah Brown to hush up and sit down – when she didn’t, he ordered her shackled and held in a cell with misdemeanor defendants).
The General Counsel for the Public Defender’s Service came to Brown’s defense last week, calling the judge’s move “an abuse of power,” and asking for a review. Now the rank-and-file are taking a stand: According to the Washington City Paper blog, there’s a proliferation of red armbands around the courthouse today. Most of the PD’s refused to answer City Paper's questions about the meaning of the bands, but one acknowledged that the accessory is meant to show solidarity with Brown.