I had to look that up. South Carolina is part of the Bible Belt. There is a church on every corner and more inbetween. I've never seen so many churches in all my life. I used to go grocery shopping on Sunday mornings because everybody else was in church. The judge is probably a very religious man like most South Carolinians are.
Cloak of Righteousness...
What garment is to the body, righteousness is to the soul. As the garment covers a man's body, so does righteousness the soul. As the naked cannot be freely allowed to roam the streets of a civilized society, so will souls not covered with the robe of righteousness not allowed into God's Kingdom.