Oh my god:
Lawyer: <complains about proceedings appearing in the news>
Judge: "Okay. The public will read what you just said."
Lawyer: <complains about proceedings appearing in the news>
Judge: "Okay. The public will read what you just said."
"Okay. The public will read what you just said.
I'm sorry, but the public's right to know what goes on in the federal courts is more important than the newspapers beating up on you in the press."
Which is absolutely true, and more than anything you can read it as cautionary from the judge. The Lawyer is trying really hard to draw attention away from what's going on and the Judge is outright saying the freedom of press and right of the public to know is more important than the case getting slammed.
It's not bias, and it's really not unprofessional either. Most of the transcripts I've taken the time to read, Judges usually do have a slight sarcastic side to them when Lawyers or participants in the court do unusual or silly things, but it's always framed around the work.
Sometimes judges lose it - true, but that's why why we have the stenographers.
In this case, the lawyer was trying to make a really silly play to garner sympathy for their client, and the judge called them out on in.
But I think GP wanted to say that even if we agree with what the judge said, it might benefit the defendant on the appeal if they can show this judge was not impartial in some way.
Wonder if this is ever used as a technique - if judges are not impartial, then bait them into showing it on the record so to speak.
Of course you'd never piss off the judge hoping to get a negative reaction. The appeal is 95% decided on the basis of the judge's written opinion, and your appellate briefs. If the judge ignored a good argument you made, it'll be apparent. And if it's a close call, the appellate court will show deference to the judge.
If you have time to kill, an outrageously funny example of a judge losing it is "State of Georgia vs. Rick Allen"[1]. If you prefer watching a video to reading a court transcript, there is a word-for-word Rick & Morty reenactment on YouTube[2]
1. http://legal.blog.ajc.com/2016/06/23/georgia-judge-loses-it-...
If Uber wants to protect their reputation in the news, they need to win the case.
He won't buy anybody's "Chewbacca defense"
(And to make sure this doesn't involve into the culture war: Justice Scalia was probably the best example of undeniable intelligence unashamedly using humour and sarcasm in his writing)