Opinion ID: 2419670
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: CONTEMPT: Criminal v. Civil

Text: Contempt is the willful disobedience toward, or open disrespect for, the rules or orders of a court. Contempts are either civil or criminal. Gordon v. Commonwealth, 141 Ky. 461, 463, 133 S.W. 206, 208 (1911). Civil contempt consists of the failure of one to do something under order of court, generally for the benefit of a party litigant. Examples are the willful failure to pay child support as ordered, or to testify as ordered. While one may be sentenced to jail for civil contempt, it is said that the contemptuous one carries the keys to the jail in his pocket, because he is entitled to immediate release upon his obedience to the court's order. Campbell v. Schroering, Ky.App., 763 S.W.2d 145, 148 (1988). Criminal contempt is conduct which amounts to an obstruction of justice, and which tends to bring the court into disrepute. Gordon, supra, 141 Ky. at 463, 133 S.W. at 208. `It is not the fact of punishment but rather its character and purpose, that often serve to distinguish' civil from criminal contempt. Shillitani v. United States, 384 U.S. 364, 369, 86 S.Ct. 1531, 1535, 16 L.Ed.2d 622, 627 (1966) (quoting Gompers v. Bucks Stove & Range Co., 221 U.S. 418, 441, 31 S.Ct. 492, 498, 55 L.Ed. 797, 806 (1911)). If the court's purpose is to punish, the sanction is criminal contempt. Criminal contempt can be either direct or indirect. A direct contempt is committed in the presence of the court and is an affront to the dignity of the court. It may be punished summarily by the court, and requires no fact-finding function, as all the elements of the offense are matters within the personal knowledge of the court. In re Terry, 128 U.S. 289, 9 S.Ct. 77, 32 L.Ed. 405 (1888). Indirect criminal contempt is committed outside the presence of the court and requires a hearing and the presentation of evidence to establish a violation of the court's order. It may be punished only in proceedings that satisfy due process. Cooke v. United States, 267 U.S. 517, 45 S.Ct. 390, 69 L.Ed. 767 (1925). In each of the cases at bar, the defendant was punished for behavior which occurred outside the presence of the court. Notice of the allegations was given, witnesses were called in open court with the opportunity to confront same, and the defendant had the right to present proof. The trial court made findings of fact, and concluded that the defendant's behavior was indeed contemptuous. Punishment was then imposed. It is clear that the defendants herein were charged with, and found in, criminal contempt as that term is classically understood.