PORTRAITS OF WHITE JUDGES REMOVED FOR TRIAL

A Virginia judge has ruled a Black defendant can't get a fair trial in a courtroom adorned largely with portraits of White judges and has ordered the paintings to be removed for the man's upcoming legal proceeding.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard wrote in an opinion issued late Monday that the portraits of past judges from the Fairfax County Circuit Court could create the impression that the court is biased. Bernhard wrote he won't allow any portraits to be on display for any trial he presides over going forward.

“The court is concerned the portraits may serve as unintended but implicit symbols that suggest the courtroom may be a place historically administered by whites for whites, and that thus others are of a lesser standing in the dispensing of justice,” Bernhard wrote.

Bernhard's ruling came in response to a request to remove the portraits from Terrance Shipp Jr., who is scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 4 on charges of eluding police, assault on a law enforcement officer and other counts.