Source: http://www.chanrobles.com/usa/us_supremecourt/485/624/case.php
Timestamp: 2019-10-18 23:20:10
Document Index: 436354836

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1209', '§ 1209', '§ 1209', '§ 1209', '§ 1209', '§ 1209', '§ 1680']

A parent failed to comply with a valid court order to make child support payments, and defended against subsequent contempt charges by claiming that he was financially unable chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Respondent apparently made two monthly payments, but paid nothing for the next nine months. He was then served with an order to show cause why he should not be held in contempt on nine counts of failure to make the monthly payments ordered by the court. At a hearing on August 9, 1985, petitioner made out a prima facie case of contempt against respondent by establishing the existence of a valid court order, respondent's knowledge of the order, and respondent's failure to comply with the order. Respondent defended by arguing that he was unable to pay support during chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
At the hearing, respondent had objected to the application of Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Ann. § 1209.5 (West 1982) against him, claiming that it was unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it shifts to the defendant the burden of proving inability to comply with the order, which is an element of the crime of contempt. [Footnote 1] This objection was rejected, and he renewed it on appeal. The intermediate state appellate court agreed with respondent and annulled the contempt order, ruling that the state statute purports to impose "a mandatory presumption compelling a conclusion of guilt without independent proof of an ability to pay," and is therefore unconstitutional because "the mandatory nature of the presumption lessens the prosecution's burden of proof." 180 Cal.App.3d 649, 654, 225 Cal.Rptr. 748, 751 (1986). [Footnote 2] In light of its holding that the statute as previously interpreted was unconstitutional, the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Petitioner argues that the state appellate court erred in its determinations on the first two points of state law. The court ruled that whether the individual is able to comply with a court order is an element of the offense of contempt, rather than an affirmative defense to the charge, and that § 1209.5 shifts to the alleged contemnor the burden of persuasion, rather than simply the burden of production in showing inability to comply. We are not at liberty to depart from the state appellate court's resolution of these issues of state law. Although petitioner marshals a number of sources in support of the contention that the state appellate court misapplied state law on these two points, the California Supreme Court chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The third issue, however, is a different matter: the argument is not merely that the state court misapplied state law, but that the characterization of this proceeding and the relief given as civil or criminal in nature, for purposes of determining the proper applicability of federal constitutional protections, raises a question of federal law, rather than state law. This proposition is correct as stated. In re Winship, 397 U. S. 358, 397 U. S. 365-366 (1970); In re Gault, 387 U. S. 1, 387 U. S. 49-50 (1967); Shillitani v. United States, 384 U. S. 364, 384 U. S. 368-369 (1966). The fact that this proceeding and the resultant relief were judged to be criminal in nature as a matter of state law is thus not determinative of this issue, and the state appellate court erred insofar as it sustained respondent's challenge to the statute under the Due Process Clause simply because it concluded that this contempt proceeding is "quasi-criminal" as a matter of California law. 180 Cal.App.3d at 653, 225 Cal.Rptr. at 750. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Gompers v. Bucks Stove & Range Co., 221 U. S. 418, 221 U. S. 441 (1911). The character of the relief imposed is thus ascertainable by applying a few straightforward chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Id. at 330 U. S. 590, quoting In re Nevitt, 117 F.4d 8, 461 (CA8 1902). In Penfield, a man was found guilty of contempt for refusing to obey a court order to produce documents. This Court ruled that, since the man was not tried in a proceeding that afforded him the applicable constitutional protections, he could be given a conditional term of imprisonment, but could not be made to pay "a flat, unconditional fine of $50.00." Penfield, supra, at 330 U. S. 588. [Footnote 6] See chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The States have long been able to plan their own procedures around the traditional distinction between civil and chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The proper classification of the relief imposed in respondent's contempt proceeding is dispositive of this case. As interpreted by the state court here, § 1209.5 requires respondent to carry the burden of persuasion on an element of the offense by showing his inability to comply with the court's order to make the required payments. If applied in a criminal proceeding, such a statute would violate the Due Process Clause, because it would undercut the State's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g., 421 U. S. 701-702 (1975). If applied in a civil proceeding, however, this particular statute would be constitutionally valid, Maggio v. Zeitz, 333 U. S. 56, 333 U. S. 75-76 (1948); Oriel,@ 278 U.S. at 278 U. S. 364-365, and respondent conceded as much at the argument. Tr. of Oral Arg. 37. [Footnote 9]
The state court found the contempt proceeding to be "quasi-criminal" in nature without discussing the point. 180 Cal.App.3d at 653, 225 Cal.Rptr. at 750. There were strong indications that the proceeding was intended to be criminal in nature, such as the notice sent to respondent, which clearly labeled the proceeding as "criminal in nature," Order to Show Cause and Declaration for Contempt (June 12, 1985), App. 21, and the participation of the District Attorney in the case. Though significant, these facts are not dispositive of the issue before us, for if the trial court had imposed only civil coercive remedies, as surely it was authorized to do, then it would be improper to invalidate that result merely because the Due Process Clause, as applied in criminal proceedings, was not satisfied. [Footnote 10] It also bears emphasis that the purposes underlying this proceeding were wholly ambiguous. Respondent was charged with violating nine discrete prior court orders, and the proceeding may have been intended chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Applying the traditional rules for classifying the relief imposed in a given proceeding requires the further resolution of one factual question about the nature of the relief in this case. Respondent was charged with nine separate counts of contempt, and was convicted on five of those counts, all of which arose from his failure to comply with orders to make payments in past months. He was sentenced to 5 days in jail on each of the five counts, for a total of 25 days, but his jail sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation for three years. If this were all, then the relief afforded would be criminal in nature. [Footnote 11] But this is not all. One of the conditions of respondent's probation was that he begin making payments on his accumulated arrearage, and that he continue making these payments at the rate of $50 per month. At that rate, all of the arrearage would be paid before respondent completed his probation period. Not only did the order therefore contemplate that respondent would be required to chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The state court did not pass on this issue because of its erroneous view that it was enough simply to aver that this proceeding is considered "quasi-criminal" as a matter of state law. And, as noted earlier, the court's view on this point, coupled with its view of the Federal Constitution, also led it to reinterpret the state statute, thus softening the impact of the presumption, in order to save its constitutionality. Yet the Due Process Clause does not necessarily prohibit the State from employing this presumption as it was construed by the state court, if respondent would purge his contempt judgment by paying off his arrearage. In these circumstances, the proper course for this Court is to vacate the judgment below and remand for further consideration of § 1209.5 free from the compulsion of an erroneous view of federal chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
This does not even suggest, of course, that the State is unable to suspend the sentence imposed on either a criminal contemnor or a civil contemnor in favor of a term of informal probation. That action may be appropriate, and even most desirable, in a great many cases, especially when the order that has been disobeyed was one to pay a sum of money. This also accords with the repeated emphasis in our decisions that, in wielding its contempt powers, a court "must exercise the least possible power adequate to the end proposed.'" Shillitani v. United States, 384 U. S. 364, 384 U. S. 371 (1966), quoting @ 19 U. S. 231 (1821).
This case concerns a contempt proceeding against a parent who repeatedly failed to comply with a valid court order to make child support payments. In my view, the proceeding is civil as a matter of federal law. Therefore, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not prevent the trial court from applying a legislative presumption that the parent remained capable of complying with the order until the time of the contempt proceeding. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
After obtaining several continuances, respondent finally appeared at a hearing before the California court on June 22, 1984. Respondent explained that he had recently become a chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Respondent filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the California Court of Appeal, where he prevailed on his argument that § 1209.5 is unconstitutional as a mandatory presumption shifting to the defendant the burden of proof of an element of a criminal offense. That is the argument that the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Contempt proceedings often will be useless if the parent seeking enforcement of valid support orders must prove that the obligor can comply with the court order. The custodial parent will typically lack access to the financial and employment records needed to sustain the burden imposed by the decision below, especially where the noncustodial parent is self-employed, as is the case here. Serious consequences follow from the California Court of Appeal's decision to invalidate California's statutory presumption that a parent continues chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The linchpin of the Court of Appeal's opinion is its determination that the contempt proceeding against respondent was criminal in nature. The court applied what it understood are the federal due process standards for mandatory evidentiary presumptions in criminal cases. See Ulster County Court v. Allen, 442 U. S. 140, 442 U. S. 167 (1979) (mandatory presumptions are impermissible unless "the fact proved is sufficient to support the inference of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt"); Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U. S. 510, 442 U. S. 523-524 (1979). This Court has recognized, by contrast, that civil contempt proceedings do not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the rules governing use of presumptions differ accordingly. In the civil contempt context, we have chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Whether a particular contempt proceeding is civil or criminal can be inferred from objective features of the proceeding and the sanction imposed. The most important indication is whether the judgment inures to the benefit of another party to the proceeding. A fine payable to the complaining party chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Several peculiar features of California's contempt law make it difficult to determine whether the proceeding in this case was civil or criminal. All contempt proceedings in California courts are governed by the same procedural rules. Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Ann. §§ 1209-1222 (West 1982 and Supp.1988); In re Morris, 194 Cal.63, 67, 227 P. 914, 915 (1924); Wright, Byrne, Haakh, Westbrook, & Wheat, Civil and Criminal Contempt in the Federal Courts, 17 F.R.D. 167, 180 (1955). Because state law provides that defendants in civil contempt proceedings are entitled to most of the protections guaranteed to ordinary criminal defendants, the California courts have held that civil contempt proceedings are quasi-criminal under state law. See, e.g., Ross v. Superior Court, 19 Cal.3d 899, 913, 569 P.2d 727, 736 (1977); chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Nevertheless, the substance of the proceeding below and the conditions on which the sentence was suspended reveal that the proceeding was civil in nature. Mrs. Feiock initiated the underlying action in order to obtain enforcement of the child support order for the benefit of the Feiock children. The California District Attorney conducted the case under a provision of the URESA that authorizes him to act on Mrs. Feiock's behalf. Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Ann. § 1680 (West 1982). As the very caption of the case in this Court indicates, the District Attorney is acting on behalf of Mrs. Feiock, not as the representative of the State of California in a criminal prosecution. Both of the provisions of California's chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Our precedents indicate that such a conditional sentence is coercive, rather than punitive. Thus in Gompers, we observed that civil contempt may be punished by an order that "the defendant stand committed unless and until he performs the affirmative act required by the court's order." 221 U.S. at 221 U. S. 442 (emphasis added). In Shillitani, we decided that civil contempt could be punished by a prison sentence fixed at two years if it included a proviso that the contemnor would be released as soon as he complied with the court order. 384 U.S. at 384 U. S. 365. In this case, if respondent performs his obligations under the original court order, he can avoid going to jail at all. Like the sentence in Shillitani, respondent's prison sentence is coercive, rather than punitive, because it effectively "conditions release upon the contemnor's willingness to [comply]." Id. at 384 U. S. 370. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
This Court traditionally has inquired into the substance of contempt proceedings to determine whether they are civil or criminal, paying particular attention to whether the sanction chanroblesvirtualawlibrary