Opinion ID: 552172
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Criminal or Civil Contempt?

Text: 39 Defendants claim that the district court's contempt sanctions were criminal, not civil, in nature and that the district court therefore did not follow necessary constitutional procedures. See Hicks v. Feiock, 485 U.S. 624, 632, 108 S.Ct. 1423, 1430, 99 L.Ed.2d 721 (1988) ([C]riminal penalties may not be imposed on someone who has not been afforded the protections that the Constitution requires of such criminal proceedings....). We disagree. 40 The dichotomy between criminal and civil contempt lies in the function of the order. McDonald's Corp. v. Victory Investments, 727 F.2d 82, 86 (3d Cir.1984). The purpose of civil contempt is primarily remedial and to benefit the complainant. See Hicks, 485 U.S. at 631, 108 S.Ct. at 1429; Latrobe Steel Co. v. United Steelworkers of America, 545 F.2d 1336, 1343 (3d Cir.1976). Civil contempt sanctions are designed either to compensate the injured party or to coerce the defendant into complying with the court's order. See Gregory v. Depte, 896 F.2d 31, 34 (3d Cir.1990). Even when the sanctions coerce, they are designed to aid the complainant through ensuring that the contemnor adheres to the court's order. Latrobe Steel Co., 545 F.2d at 1344. Further, civil contempt proceedings are usually instituted on the motion of the plaintiff, not the court. Id. at 1343-44. 41 In determining whether a contempt sanction is civil, it is generally useful to examine the form of the relief granted. When the relief provided is imprisonment, the contempt proceeding is civil if 'the defendant stands committed unless and until he performs the affirmative act required by the court's order.'  Hicks, 485 U.S. at 632, 108 S.Ct. at 1429 (quoting Gompers v. Bucks Stove & Range Co., 221 U.S. 418, 442, 31 S.Ct. 492, 498, 55 L.Ed. 797 (1911)). As a result, it is often said that the imprisoned civil contemnor  'carries the keys of his prison in his own pocket.'  Gompers, 221 U.S. at 442, 31 S.Ct. at 498 (citation omitted). There are also two types of civil contempt fines. The first kind is payable to the complainant as compensation for damages caused by the contemnor's noncompliance. See Latrobe Steel Co., 545 F.2d at 1344. The second kind is payable to the court, but defendant can avoid paying the contempt fine by performing the act required by the court's order. Hicks, 485 U.S. at 632, 108 S.Ct. at 1429. 42 By contrast, the purpose of criminal contempt is punitive and to vindicate the authority of the court by punishing past acts of disobedience. See id. at 631, 108 S.Ct. at 1429; McDonald's Corp., 727 F.2d at 86. Although civil contempt proceedings are part of the underlying action, criminal contempt proceedings are separate from the actions which spawned them. Latrobe Steel Co., 545 F.2d at 1343. If the contemnor is imprisoned for a definite period or if the fine is unconditionally payable to the court, the relief is punitive, not remedial, and the contempt proceeding is, by definition, criminal. 43 Based on the foregoing, it is clear that the district court's order adjudging defendants and Krail in contempt was civil in nature. First, the court awarded compensatory damages to WSC and NEWC--the two clinics that were blockaded by Operation Rescue and that are also parties to this action. On the days when these clinics were subject to Operation Rescue's protest, they could treat only a small fraction of their scheduled patients. The court thus ordered the contemnors to reimburse these clinics for their wasted payroll costs. 9 These awards are clearly remedial and designed to compensate complainants for losses incurred as a result of contemnors' violations. Second, the court imposed a conditional coercive fine on the contemnors. 10 The court made the contemnors' obligation to pay these fines contingent on a future violation of its orders. In so doing, the court obviously was trying to ensure that the contemnors would not disobey its orders again. By coercing future compliance, such a fine benefits the complainants and thus is civil in nature. 11 Finally, three additional factors indicate that the contempt proceeding was civil: (1) the district court denominated its contempt order as civil; (2) the plaintiffs, rather than the court, initiated the proceeding; and (3) the contempt proceeding was integrally linked to plaintiffs' underlying action for injunctive relief. 12