I don't see it as demeaning. When you are surrounds in seeing the worst in people it can seem hopeless and depressing. Sometimes, someone saying smile means I see you, I know it's hard, but it's not all bad, smile, we are helping people, don't get discouraged or give up. A judge smiling in the courtroom can be misconstrued in a hundred ways, and appear that they are siding with one party over the other. If a judge smiled in any of my custody battles I would have come unhinged. Fighting for my child is not a joke, it is nothing to smile about. If the judge had the audacity to smile while my heart was breaking when I was fighting for custody I would have felt like the judge thought my life and legal right to raise my children was a joke and I would have reported them to the bar and been outraged beyond belief. No one gets married or has children thinking it would ever end up in a courtroom. In divorce and custody, no matter who wins there are only losers.