Uncovering justice

With Ashcroft's departure, wags everywhere wondered, would the modesty curtains hanging over the statues of "Spirit of Justice" and "Majesty of Law" in the Justice Department rotunda finally come down? Apparently so:

With barely a word about it, workers at the Justice Department Friday removed the blue drapes that have famously covered two scantily clad statues for the past 3 1/2 years.

Spirit of Justice, with her one breast exposed and her arms raised, and the bare-chested male Majesty of Law basked in the late afternoon light of Justice's ceremonial Great Hall.

Can't remember what this is all about? Ah, human folly...

The drapes, installed in 2002 at a cost of $8,000, allowed then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to speak in the Great Hall without fear of a breast showing up behind him in television or newspaper pictures. They also provoked jokes about and criticism of the deeply religious Ashcroft.

Of course, there's now a fancy conference room in the building for most news conferences, but I'm sure that the rotunda looks much less ridiculous without the blue drapes shielding visitors from its classical sculptures...

(hat tip to BB)