# Why do we stand up for judges when they enter court? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2022, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488 "2022-01-27T13:34:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/21 "2022-01-27T16:33:55Z")
Orchestras stand when their conductor walks on stage. I’m not sure if that’s deference to the conductor or acknowledgement of audience applause. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/22 "2022-01-27T16:41:25Z")
> [_Here Comes the Judge_](http://www.comedyhistory101.com/comedy-history-101/2019/9/27/history-of-here-comes-the-judge-comedys-first-meme) is a 1968 song by legendary comedian Pigmeat Markham. It become one of comedy’s first memes when Sammy Davis Jr. made it a catchphrase on the TV show: Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/23 "2022-01-27T17:36:32Z")
Fiddler on the Roof. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/24 "2022-01-27T17:44:59Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Standing shows that the person (for want of a better term - being standed to) is the most important person in the room and you are ready to pay attention to whatever they say. In Thailand it is reversed. Younger people never stand taller then the elders. It is OK if they sit when an elder enters but if they are standing the younguns bend over in a slouch so they are shorter. When I visited Thailand with my Thai wife I was double blessed - older and a visiting dignitary. I have never seen so many crouched down people before or since! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/25 "2022-01-27T17:49:13Z")
My veterans often stand if I come into the classroom after they’re seated. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/26 "2022-01-27T17:50:47Z")
Ah – Tradition! I get it. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/27 "2022-01-27T17:51:12Z")
Funny, I thought it was Pratchett, too. Seems like something he would have written. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/28 "2022-01-27T18:13:11Z")
Nah. This is Pratchett: > " if there were two things the city liked, it was tradition and goddesses, especially if the goddesses were a bit short on chiffon above the waist. or > You did something because it had always been done, and the explanation was ‘But we’ve _always_ done it this way.’ A million dead people can’t have been wrong, can they? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/29 "2022-01-27T18:21:36Z")
Thanks! That guy was a genius. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/30 "2022-01-27T18:28:38Z")
I prefer that attys NOT stand when I enter hrg rooms for the admin proceedings I preside over. I’d prefer that a representative demonstrate their respect for my office and the proceeding via competence and preparedness. The ones most likely to stand, use flowery language, and demonstrate various lawyerly formalities are also the sort most likely to say, “With all due respect…” When they really mean, “Fuck you, asshole!” Has anyone ever used that phrase in a manner actually intended to convey some level of respect, or do folk just use it to signal that they feel the person addressed is “due” no respect? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/31 "2022-01-27T18:43:39Z")
When I use it, it is to indicate respect for the judge’s comments, but explain why I think there is an alternative approach. It’s in no way meant as an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/32 "2022-01-27T18:53:43Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > “With all due respect…” When they really mean, “Fuck you, asshole!” > > Has anyone ever used that phrase in a manner actually intended to convey some level of respect, or do folk just use it to signal that they feel the person addressed is “due” no respect? I prefer “Respectfully…” for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/33 "2022-01-27T19:27:31Z")
Thus the “should.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/34 "2022-01-27T20:00:11Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > When I use it, it is to indicate respect for the judge’s comments, but explain why I think there is an alternative approach. It’s in no way meant as an insult. You may think that. And I have every reason to believe you say it in a respectful manner. I’m just offering a perspective from my side of the bench that as a general manner, when someone prefaces their remarks with, “With all due respect”, that basically signals that their following remarks are going to be disrespectful. Works pretty much the same in non-legal exchanges. “With all due respect - get your head out of your ass.” I don’t really see the need for the prefatory language. It adds nothing. Theater, from watching lawyers on TV. Oughtn’t we presume we are being respectful of each other? If so, just say the words, and we’ll each decide what we feel they are worth. Don’t get me started on, “Without further ado…” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/35 "2022-01-27T20:03:06Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Don’t get me started on, “Without further ado…” The thing that bugs me is starting every argument with “Just briefly, your honor…” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/36 "2022-01-27T20:54:52Z")
What would be an example of “Ado?” ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/37 "2022-01-27T22:43:45Z")
I can’t answer the OP’s question specifically, but there are jobs where you stand when such-n-such person enters the room so that you will be immediately ready to carry out whatever instructions you are given. You are on your feet, paying attention, and ready to go. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/38 "2022-01-27T22:53:45Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I went to a girls’ private school where we all had to rise when a teacher came into the room at the start of class. I went to a Catholic elementary school back in the dark ages, and we had to stand up any time a priest or nun came into the room and say “Good morning (afternoon), Father Soandso” or " Good morning, Sister Soandso." ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/39 "2022-01-27T23:19:16Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > One answer might be, “education is, or should be, a democratic process and deference to the teacher–or the system–is thus not appropriate.” Just because **people** are equal does not mean that their jobs or positions are equal. I’m guessing that (A) either you don’t show this attitude at work that you show here, or (B) you’ve gotten fired from a lot of jobs. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488/40 "2022-01-28T00:06:11Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I went to a Catholic elementary school back in the dark ages, and we had to stand up any time a priest or nun came into the room and say “Good morning (afternoon), Father Soandso” or " Good morning, Sister Soandso." I did, too. There was one nun who insisted that we chant (of course we did it in a singsong voice), “Praised be Jesus Christ, good morning Sister Mary Elephant.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stand-up-for-judges-when-they-enter-court/958488.md?page=3)