This is from the March 15, 1954 issue of Life Magazine:
[A repost.]
Judge Parker Fulton
And here’s the caption:
JUSTICE UNSHOD
During a blizzard last week in Cleveland, Common Pleas Judge Parker Fulton stepped into a puddle. Not wishing to impede justice but not wanting to catch cold either, the judge took off his shoes at court and presided with bare feet hidden behind the bench. At recess, the bailiff bought a pair of slippers, restoring warmth to His Honor’s feet and dignity to his court.
Um, “dignity to his court”? He’d already spent time time presiding over the court without a loss of dignity.
These are just the sorts of attitudes we have to deal with from smarmy reporters.
But it was nice that the judge didn’t let his unshod state bother him, and didn’t worry about being photographed that way.
Ahcuah 
The only really surprising thing here was that the reporter was actually honest about their ‘reason’. Those are some seriously shoe-mangled feet there, maybe even the beginnings of a tailors’ bunion.