Opinion ID: 586391
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 13 As a general rule, contempt orders against a party to pending proceeding are not considered final under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. United States v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 648 F.2d 642, 651 (9th Cir.1981); Hughes v. Sharp, 476 F.2d 975 (9th Cir.1973). 14 Where the contempt order is a post-judgment order imposing sanctions, however, the order may be final for the purposes of § 1291. Weyerhaeuser Co. v. International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union, Local 21, 733 F.2d 645 (9th Cir.1984). A consent decree is considered a final judgment despite the fact that the district court retains jurisdiction over the case. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air v. Pennsylvania, 674 F.2d 976, 981 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 905, 103 S.Ct. 206, 74 L.Ed.2d 165 (1982); cf. United Nuclear Corp. v. Cranford Ins. Co., 905 F.2d 1424, 1426 (10th Cir.1990) (order entered three years after consent judgment appealable because underlying controversy was concluded), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 799, 112 L.Ed.2d 860 (1991). Thus, the contempt order in this case is a post-judgment order because the parties agreed to the consent decree in 1982. 15 A post-judgment order imposing sanctions acquires the operativeness and consequence required for finality under § 1291. Shuffler v. Heritage Bank, 720 F.2d 1141, 1145 (9th Cir.1983). 4 The plaintiffs claim that the district court's contempt order is not final because (1) sanctions will not be levied until the City violates the population limits, and (2) the Special Master failed to determine that a bona fide emergency beyond the control of the City exists. 5 16 In this case, the sanctions are not speculative. The City has not been required to pay sanctions because of this court's stay of the district court's order. 6 The record demonstrates that the City is not in compliance with the population limits and thus would be required to pay the fines if the stay were not in effect. Hennessey Decl. in Support of Mot. for Stay p 8 (Jan. 6, 1992). The fact that the exact amount of the fines is undetermined and ongoing does not make the sanctions speculative. See Shuffler, 720 F.2d at 1145; 9 James Wm. Moore et al., Federal Practice § 110.13, at 150 (2d ed. 1992) (if the contempt judgment is entered in a post-final judgment proceeding, it is final and appealable, since there is no other judgment from which the appeal will lie). Nor does the fact that the sanctions are conditional defeat the contempt order's finality. Falstaff Brewing Corp. v. Miller Brewing Co., 702 F.2d 770, 777 (9th Cir.1983) (sanctions paid but could be refunded with subsequent compliance). This situation is distinct from cases where the contempt order was not final because certain compensatory contempt sanctions had not yet been determined. See American St. Gobain Corp. v. Armstrong Glass Co., 418 F.2d 571 (6th Cir.1969). 17 As to the argument that the Special Master could excuse noncompliance, there is no evidence that the City would be excused for noncompliance. As the City points out, the emergency clause was meant to cover situations such as mass demonstrations, civil disobedience, or other events causing a large but temporary surge in the jail's population. Moreover, the City has made no effort to invoke this provision and nothing would require them to do so in order to make the district court's contempt order final for the purposes of § 1291. 18 Finally, pragmatic concerns cut in favor of finding the contempt order to be final. The Supreme Court has counseled a practical rather than a technical interpretation of § 1291. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord, 449 U.S. 368, 374, 101 S.Ct. 669, 673, 66 L.Ed.2d 571 (1981); Gillespie v. United States Steel Corp., 379 U.S. 148, 152-53, 85 S.Ct. 308, 310-11, 13 L.Ed.2d 199 (1964). The most important concerns in determining § 1291 finality are the inconvenience of piecemeal review on the one hand and the danger of denying justice by delay on the other. Dickinson v. Petroleum Conversion Corp., 338 U.S. 507, 511, 70 S.Ct. 322, 324, 94 L.Ed. 299 (1950). Allowing an appeal of Judge Orrick's order does not encourage piecemeal litigation. The consent decree is the equivalent of a final judgment; thus ongoing proceedings would not be disrupted by allowing an appeal of the contempt order. Moreover, treating the order as final avoids the danger of unjust delay. 19 Requiring the City to accrue large sums in sanctions before appealing the order, as the plaintiffs argue, belies common sense. The plaintiffs' rule would require the City to violate the order, pay the fines into the fund, and then comply with the decree's population limits to make the amount of fines certain before the City could appeal the contempt order. Under these circumstances, both policy and common sense would dictate that we assume jurisdiction under the rule of Gillespie.... Smith v. Eggar, 655 F.2d 181, 184-85 (9th Cir.1981). Such a result comports with the realities of prison reform litigation: [I]nstitutional reform litigation frequently requires that jurisdiction be retained long after the basic determination of liability. Just as appeal should be available from successive remedial orders, so should appeal be available from a finding of contempt when circumstances make it uncertain whether any further orders will be required. 15B Charles A. Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure: Jurisdiction 2d § 3917, at 397 (1992). This argument is especially persuasive where the contemnor is under the threat of continuing contempt as in this case. 7 20 Although the issue was not raised by the parties, we also have jurisdiction to consider the federalism questions raised by the amicus. Issues touching on federalism and comity may be considered sua sponte. 8 In habeas corpus cases, for example, federal courts may consider sua sponte whether the defendant has exhausted state remedies, a question touching upon delicate issues of federalism. See Granberry v. Greer, 481 U.S. 129, 134, 107 S.Ct. 1671, 1675, 95 L.Ed.2d 119 (1987) (when state fails to raise nonexhaustion claim, court should determine whether the interests of comity and federalism will be better served by addressing the merits forthwith or by requiring further state proceedings); see also Taylor v. Gilmore, 954 F.2d 441 (7th Cir.1992) (applying sua sponte rule that federal courts will not correct errors of state criminal law in collateral proceedings), petition for cert. filed, 60 U.S.L.W. 3783 (U.S. Apr. 27, 1992) (No. 91-1738); Fortino v. Quasar Co., 950 F.2d 389, 391 (7th Cir.1991) ([c]omity ... accepted reason for an appellate court to consider issues that would otherwise have been deemed waived ...); Smith v. Moffett, 947 F.2d 442, 445 (10th Cir.1991) (court of appeals has discretion to raise comity issues sua sponte ); Thomas v. Indiana, 910 F.2d 1413, 1415 (7th Cir.1990) (delicate questions of comity can be raised on the court's own initiative). The underlying principle in these cases logically extends to institutional reform litigation, especially where acts of the state legislature and judiciary are involved.