Defendants have been wearing suits and ties to appear like upright citizens to juries for a long time, but that may not be enough for some. These people need ... hipster glasses!
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Brittin noticed that 5 men he was prosecuting for a series of killings were wearing large-framed, non-prescription glasses, and decided to blow the Hipster Glasses conspiracy wide open:
Non-prescription “hipster” or “personality” glasses are on one hand simply a fashion fad. But they’ve also become something of a sensation in the District’s courthouse scene: Attorneys say inmates trade them before hearings, while friends and family sometimes deliver them during jailhouse visits. Some lawyers even supply them themselves. [...]
“They’re masks. They’re designed to confuse the witness and influence the jury,” said one prosecutor who is following the trial. Another said the defendants were “putting on a schoolboy act.”
Other defense attorneys chimed in on the effectiveness of the Hipster Glasses:
New York defense lawyer Harvey Slovis makes all his clients wear glasses: He calls them part of a “nerd defense.” The glasses, Slovis said in an interview, make people appear less intimidating. “Yes, it works,” he said.
Link - via The Look (Image: The Hipster Ariel Meme)