Opinion ID: 2276843
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Improper Summary Criminal Contempt.

Text: More specifically, as to Count I, Judge Gormley asserts that she had the authority and the right to punish the husband in a summary proceeding for direct criminal contempt; and that if any errors were made, the husband's remedy was through an appeal, not through the Judicial Conduct Commission. She cites for authority SCR 4.020(2), which provides that [a]ny erroneous decision made in good faith shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission. An explanation of a court's contempt powers is in order. Contempt is the willful disobedience toward, or open disrespect for, the rules or orders of a court. [14] Contempt can be classified as civil or criminal. Civil contempt is when someone fails to follow a court order to do something. [15] That something is usually for the benefit of a party litigant (e.g., pay child support, allow visitation, fix something by a certain date, move a driveway, clean up a spill, close a business by a certain hour, provide discovery, etc.). A judge may incarcerate someone for civil contempt in order to motivate the person to obey the court order, but the contemptuous one is entitled to be released upon compliance with the court's order. [16] Criminal contempt, on the other hand, is when a person disobeys a court order out of disrespect for the rules or orders of court. A contemptuous person can be incarcerated for criminal contempt; but unlike civil contempt, the primary purpose of criminal contempt is to punish the contemptuous conduct. [17] 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). [18] Judge Gormley summarily held the husband in contempt of court for his actions that occurred, outside of her perception, in the hallway and at the wife's home. However, as this was a case of indirect criminal contempt, summary proceedings were inadequate. [19] As the Commission correctly held: While a court undoubtedly has the power to hold a person in contempt of court for actions that occur outside the sensory perception of the judge (as was true in this situation), the court may not exercise that power without holding a hearing that provides the person with advance notice of the contempt proceeding and with a full opportunity to be heard and that is conducted in full accord with a person's rights to due process of law (including right to assistance of counsel, right not to answer questions that could result in criminal sanctions, the right to cross examine witnesses, and the privilege against self-incrimination). Judge Gormley clearly erred in holding a summary criminal contempt proceeding for indirect criminal contempt in Count I, and the Commission so found. [20]