Opinion ID: 2380298
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: inability to purge

Text: The defendants contend that the court erred in imposing penalties for days on which the defendants were unable to purge themselves of contempt. This claim is reviewable because such penalties would not be proper in a civil contempt proceeding. Board of Education v. Shelton Education Assn., supra, 87. The defendants maintain that they could not purge themselves of contempt on days on which the schools were officially closed. This assertion is incorrect, however, because the court considered an individual defendant purged of contempt upon a sworn statement that he or she was terminating participation in the strike and would return to school when it was next open. Thus, the fact that schools were closed on a particular day did not prevent the defendants from purging themselves of contempt. It is true that the court on November 17 restricted the defendants' opportunity to purge themselves of contempt to periods of time in which the court was in regular session and that as a consequence of this the defendants could not purge themselves of contempt during the weekend of November 22-23. Although as a general matter such a restriction might be inappropriate, it was justified under the facts of this case. The restriction expressly arose because during the previous weekend the court had made itself available during the late evening of Friday, November 14, 1975, and the early morning hours of Saturday, November 15, at which time the incarcerated members of the negotiating team were released upon signing a statement that they would return to work on Monday, November 17. [11] The members of the negotiating team, after failing to reach an agreement with the board of education, reneged on their written promise and refused to return to work on Monday. The court on November 17, considering these defendants to have acted in bad faith, recommitted them under the original contempt order and imposed the requirement that in the future any purging would be in open court and under oath. The defendants were fully aware that this meant that if they did not purge themselves by Friday afternoon, they would not be able to purge themselves until the next Monday, because the court expressly told them so. Under these facts the restriction was reasonable and justified. It was ultimately the defendants' actions which required them to remain in contempt until Monday, November 24.