The Supreme Court can be an intimidating place for even the most polished professionals.
Imagine being a 24-year-old intern taking notes in the back rows of the press gallery and having the chief justice of the United States cast withering glances your way.
Then court security comes knocking.
It happened last week to Roopa Singh, a 1995 Mira Mesa High School graduate whose apparent transgression against the supreme law of the land amounted to wearing a burnt orange scarf over her hair.
A National Public Radio intern, Singh was listening to oral arguments unfolding in the decorous parlor – debate over First Amendment issues, no less – when she says she noticed Chief Justice William Rehnquist scowling at her for several minutes.
Soon after, the jurist left the bench, Singh said. Then a security officer approached Singh and asked if she had medical or religious reasons for wearing the scarf. When she said no, she said, she was asked to take it off.
Singh removed the offending head gear and rejoined the ranks of the press corps. But in the days since, the second-year law student at UC Berkeley has complained that the chief justice was treating women and minorities differently from others.
"The Supreme Court is a hugely symbolic part of our government," she said. "It says 'Equal Justice For All' right on the building."
A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court said the court has a long-standing policy against wearing hats inside the chambers. Once security determined that the scarf was not being worn for religious or medical reasons, it had to go.
"It's a very formal setting," spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.
Nonetheless, Singh worries that Rehnquist may be applying unwritten dress code standards unevenly. He previously ordered women in the press gallery who were wearing pants rather than skirts to sit outside his line of vision.
"If (Rehnquist) makes women disproportionately feel like they don't belong there, that's not an idiosyncrasy," said Singh, who noted that she was waved into the press area while wearing the scarf.
"If he makes people of color disproportionately feel like they don't belong there, that's not an idiosyncrasy."
Jeff McDonald: (619) 542-4585; jeff.mcdonald@uniontrib.com
