Opinion: Your honor, you're out of order

First District Court Judge Benjamin Simpson told a whopper Thursday, and it can’t be left unchallenged.

Here’s what happened:

Judge Simpson had disallowed cameras in the courtroom of the gut-wrenching trial of confessed teenaged killer Eldon G. Samuel III. That’s certainly the judge’s right, and assembled media respected his decision.

On Thursday, Press photographer Shawn Gust made a request. At the security check-in, he asked a bailiff if he could take one photo of the defendant through a window from the courthouse hallway on the second floor. The bailiff took the request to Judge Simpson on a break, and the judge denied it. Fine.

But Judge Simpson then unleashed a mini-rant against the Press that was beneath his dignity. Besides that, it was untrue.

Judge Simpson told the jury and everyone else in the courtroom that the Press was trying to take photos of the jurors. He said he would protect their identities and ordered that the windows be covered.

Over the years, Press photographers have been permitted to capture and share with the public images of defendants in courtrooms many times. Over the past 15 years at least and likely much longer, not one judicial complaint has been lodged against the newspaper because of its courtroom decorum or professionalism.

Last week, the defense stated that Samuel’s father kept the boy isolated, that he blocked out all the windows so zombies couldn’t see into the home.

There are no zombies outside Judge Simpson’s courtroom. The Press has tremendous respect for the judiciary and for its critical role in society. We believe that respect should go both ways.