The wooden gavel may be best known as a symbol of the legal profession and a prop for reality show judges. But in these unruly times, the gavel has become an emblem of civic disorder. Footage from local government meetings shows vexed city, county and school board officials bashing their gavels, sometimes so hard they splinter, to enforce silence, parliamentary procedure and civil debate. Officials wielding the gavel call it a primitive but useful tool to gain control of the room when Robert’s Rules fly out the window. Those on the receiving end bristle at all the banging.
Source: Wall Street Journal
