Nazi’s court-ordered makeup turns bad boy into baby
If the tattoos on his face, head and neck are an indication of how he wants to be seen by others, Bayzle Morgan, bless his heart, wants to be known as a badass, America’s top white supremacist.
But Clark County District Judge Richard Scotti, worried the tattoos Morgan wears won’t allow him a fair trial on a robbery charge, has ordered that he be allowed to wear makeup in court to cover up the skin etchings.
This is judicial correctness that makes political correctness seem quaint.
Will bright red lipstick go best with his complexion? How about a little blush to make Morgan, who faces the death penalty in a separate murder case, seem sweeter?
And don’t forget the mascara to highlight his lovely eyes.
Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa says $1,200 has been budgeted for a makeup artist, but the cost could go higher if the trial drags on.
What’s next? Taxpayer-funded face lifts and nose jobs for defendants Scotti doesn’t think are pretty or handsome enough?
After all, a Cornell study found unattractive defendants receive harsher prison sentences — around 22 months longer.
Come on, judge. Just because the 24-year-old Morgan wears a “Baby Nazi” tattoo on his neck doesn’t mean he should be treated as though he’s sucking his thumb and crying for mommy to change his diaper.
Morgan, who also wears “Most Wanted” on his forehead, “Iron Cross” on the back of his head and a cute teardrop under his right eye, has every right to present himself as a racist badass.
That Morgan is not objecting to the makeover the judge, defense attorneys and prosecutors want is irrelevant.
So is the fact that some potential jurors said his tattoos would make it difficult for them to give him a fair trial.
As a grown man, he made his decisions on how handsome he wanted to look, and it is not up to the court to use taxpayer money to cover up those decisions.
Beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.
Local members of Aryan Nations probably think Morgan looks marvelous. How hard did the judge, defense attorneys and prosecutors really try to get a jury of Morgan’s peers?
Let’s be honest: Morgan could have gone on the witness stand without makeup and told jurors basically the same thing he’s suggesting to the shy lovelies who scout writeaprisoner.com for a pen pal and a good man — he’s “made some mistakes in life.”
“My heart is heavy with pain of being alone and I am starved for a woman who can see past labels to the man I truly am.”
Was Shakespeare ever that good?
Morgan’s got such a way with words that jurors may have forgotten his tattoos, chalked them up to bad judgment. With a tear in his eye as well as outside it, he could have been convincing.
But now Morgan’s made up every day.
At first blush, you might think Morgan’s got a chance of one day making commercials for Maybelline or Cover Girl if he’s found innocent.
Yet the more you think about it, the less likely that becomes.
Don’t you think jurors will find it odd that a 24-year-old man is wearing showgirl makeup, then vote to convict?
Where is the fairness in that?
Paul Harasim’s column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Friday in the Nevada section and Thursday in the Life section. Contact him at pharasim@reviewjournal.
