Chester County lawyer Samuel C. Stretton. Courtesy photo

What is a judge to do? Obviously, the judge is not going to yell and scream.

As a sitting judge, how do I control my courtroom if the Judicial Conduct Board will bring disciplinary charges against me for raising my voice or yelling when people act badly?

Though the question is somewhat unfair, there is some concern among judicial officers about controlling courtrooms, particularly criminal and domestic courtrooms where there is a large number of clients in the room. In days of old, judges would sometimes in a very firm voice, and sometimes in a very loud or almost shouting voice tell people to sit down, stop talking, sometimes use the word shut up. If that did not work, judges would at times have the sheriff take the person back into the cell room next to the courtroom, and have them brought out later once they calmed down.

In days of old, if a person repeatedly would not pay fines and continue to come back, and was making no serious effort to do so, the judge would often order a couple of days of incarceration so the person could pay the fees off by periods of incarceration.