Court Opinion

ID: 9569965
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:18:59.097748+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:04:28.286084
License: Public Domain

CLARK, J.
I dissent.
Until today the purpose for enforcing a court order by contempt under Code of Civil Procedure section 1209 was to maintain the dignity and authority of the court—not to vindicate a private right.1 Thus, the proceeding was considered criminal in nature—not civil. However, the majority, avoiding established precedent, mischaracterizes this case as one of intervention by the district attorney in a private civil proceeding for the purpose of benefiting one of the litigants. In doing so, the majority effectively repudiates almost every case of this court and of the Courts of Appeal applying section 1209.
Purpose of Contempt Proceeding
Essential to the majority’s opinion is its premise that the purpose of a section 1209 proceeding is to benefit a private party. Briefly stated, the majority’s argument progresses in the following manner: (1) the basis of the instant proceeding is to vindicate private rights; (2) it is therefore a civil action; (3) statutes exist specifically authorizing the district attorney to intervene in enumerated civil actions; (4) the inclusion of these specific statutory powers to the district attorney excludes all others; (5) thus, the district attorney has no authority to bring this action.
The majority’s vital premise—that the purpose of enforcing an order by contempt is to benefit private litigants—is false. Under our Code of Civil Procedure, contempt of court is a specific criminal offense. (Hotaling v. Superior Court (1923) 191 Cal. 501, 504 [217 P. 73, 29 A.L.R. 127]; Ex parte Gould (1893) 99 Cal. 360, 362 [33 P. 1112]; Ex parte Hollis (1881) 59 Cal. 405, 408; Killpatrick v. Superior Court (1957) 153 Cal.App.2d 146, 149 [314 P.2d 164]; Lapique v. Superior Court (1924) 68 Cal.App. 407, 411 [229 P. 1010]; Perkins on Criminal Law (2d ed. 1969) *244p. 533.) The primary purpose of the contempt proceeding is to punish for disobedience of a court order. (Foust v. Foust (1956) 47 Cal.2d 121, 124 [302 P.2d 11]; Ransom v. Superior Court (1968) 262 Cal.App.2d 271, 276 [68 Cal.Rptr. 507]; Little v. Superior Court (1968) 260 Cal.App.2d 311, 316 [67 Cal.Rptr. 77].)
“ ‘ “Although the alleged misconduct of the defendants occurred in the progress of a civil action, the proceeding to punish them for such misconduct is no part of the process in the civil action (Killpatrick v. Superior Court, supra, 153 Cal.App.2d 146, 149; quoting Ex parte Gould, supra, 99 Cal. 360, 362; italics added.) Nor is it of consequence that the contempt proceeding is brought in the name of the civil litigants. (Bridges v. Superior Court (1939) 14 Cal.2d 464, 477 [94 P.2d 983]; Ex parte Ah Men (1888) 77 Cal. 198, 200 [19 P. 380].) “[A] contempt proceeding is not a civil action but is of a criminal nature even though its purpose is to impose punishment for violation of an order made in a civil action . . . .” (Bailey v. Superior Court (1956) 142 Cal.App.2d 47, 53 [297 P.2d 795]; see also, City of Culver City v. Superior Court (1952) 38 Cal.2d 535, 541 [241 P.2d 258].)
While the contempt proceeding may have the ancillary effect of vindicating or enforcing private rights, this is not its purpose. Thus, in H. J. Heinz Co. v. Superior Court (1954) 42 Cal.2d 164, 175 [266 P.2d 5], the court explains: “In 39 California Law Review, at page 560, the author states that ‘California has no provision for compensatory contempt proceedings. Civil damages may be collected in an ordinary civil action for an act otherwise a contempt.’ The enforcement of an order of contempt in this state is not for the vindication of a private right but is for the maintenance of the dignity and authority of the court, and to preserve the peace and dignity of the people of the State of California.” (See also, e.g., American Fire etc. Service v. Williams (1959) 171 Cal.App.2d 397, 402 [340 P.2d 644]; Bailey v. Superior Court, supra, 142 Cal.App.2d 47, 54.)
The majority cites no authority supporting its departure from the well-defined purpose of contempt. Instead, the majority now interprets the purpose of contempt as benefiting private litigants—from which it derives the conclusion that the present proceeding is civil. The majority then attempts to support its conclusion by relying exclusively on civil statutes.2 This cannot go uncriticized.
*245Strong public policy dictates allowing the district attorney to prosecute actions for contempt. The contempt power stands as an essential pillar of our legal system. As often recognized by this court, the power “ ‘is a necessary incident to the execution of the powers conferred upon the court, and is necessary to maintain its dignity, if not its very existence.’ ” (In re Buckley (1973) 10 Cal.3d 237, 247-248 [110 Cal.Rptr. 121, 514 P.2d 1201]; quoting In re Shortridge (1893) 99 Cal. 526, 532 [34 P. 227].) Respect for the courts is as essential to our society as is respect for the law itself.
Once judicial resolution is reached, disregard of the judgment by a dissatisfied litigant cannot be condoned. The delicate balance of our individual freedoms cannot survive limitless demands of individual interests. “Liberty can only be exercised in a system of law which safeguards order.” (Cox v. Louisiana (1965) 379 U.S. 559, 574 [13 L.Ed.2d 487, 498, 85 S.Ct. 476].)
Rather than limiting prosecution of contempt to the private party and imposing its burden on the individual litigant—the resulting effect of the majority’s holding—a public official should be permitted to go forward. First, because the purpose of the prosecution is to secure an important public interest, its economic burden should be borne by the public. (Cf. Dept. of Mental Hygiene v. Kirchner (1964) 60 Cal.2d 716, 719 [36 Cal.Rptr. 488, 388 P.2d 720, 20 A.L.R.3d 353]; Department of Mental Hygiene v. Hawley (1963) 59 Cal.2d 247, 255-256 [28 Cal.Rptr. 718, 379 P.2d 22].) Second, the duty of enforcement must not be left solely to the whim or desire of private litigants. The burden of prosecution usually outweighing any incidental benefit to the private litigant, economic realism dictates he will not pursue the important public policy of protecting the court’s dignity. In this case, the grower no doubt was more concerned with harvesting his crop than with vindicating the authority of the California courts. In response to such concerns and based on the important functions being fulfilled, this court has allowed persons not parties to the original action to prosecute actions for contempt. (See, e.g., Bridges v. Superior Court, supra, 14 Cal.2d 464, 477; McFarland v. Superior Court (1924) 194 Cal. 407, 423 [228 P. 1033].) The proceeding being criminal in nature for the maintenance and dignity of the court, and no reason existing to carve an exception from his normal prosecutor*246ial responsibilities, the district attorney, subject to the court’s regulation, is the appropriate public official to prosecute these contempts.
Prosecutor’s Discretion to Seek Lesser Penalties
Additional to its result, the majority “holds” that the district attorney lacks power to force the defendants into reduced punishment at the cost of a “cherished protection.” (Ante, p. 241.) The majority, while recognizing that disobedience of a court order violates both Code of Civil Procedure section 1209 and Penal Code section 166,3 forces the district attorney to proceed under the Penal Code, disallowing him discretion—even in the interests of justice—to seek the lesser penalty provided by the Code of Civil Procedure.
I cannot agree that when the district attorney has the alternative of charging two separate offenses for the same act, one providing a trial by jury but a potentially greater penalty, he must charge the offense affording the right to jury.4 The majority’s requirement would frustrate legislative intent providing for two separate methods of statutory enforcement. In false advertising cases, for example, the prosecutor is given the choice of prosecuting under either Business and Professions Code section 17534 (a misdemeanor carrying a possible jail sentence of six months) or section 17536 (providing only for civil penalties (fine)). Under section 17534 a defendant is entitled to a jury trial; however, under section 17536 no such right exists. (People v. Witzerman (1972) 29 Cal.App.3d 169, 176 [105 Cal.Rptr. 284].) Surprisingly, the majority would have the defendant mandatorily charged with the criminal offense and its attendant peril of loss of liberty instead of a simple fine.
*247The district attorney has and should continue to possess the power to charge a lesser offense when facts warrant such discretion. “It is the general rule that the duty to charge persons with crimes rests with the distript attorney and courts do, and should continue to, exercise restraint in interfering with the free exercise of discretion . . . .” (Williams v. Superior Court (1973) 30 Cal.App.3d 8, 12 [106 Cal.Rptr. 89]; see also Taliaferro v. Locke (1960) 182 Cal.App.2d 752, 757 [6 Cal.Rptr. 813].) Here the district attorney decided in his discretion that it would be more appropriate to seek the lesser penalties under the Code of Civil Procedure rather than to pursue the potentially greater penalties under the Penal Code.
There being no apparent abuse of discretion, no writ should issue.
McComb, J., concurred.

Section 1209 provides: “The following acts or omissions in respect to a court of justice, or proceedings therein, are contempts of the authority of the court: ... [¶] 5. Disobedience of any lawful judgment, order, or process of the court; ...”

The majority’s attempt to invoke the maxim of statutory construction—expressio unius est exclusio alterius—fails in the circumstances of this case. In addition to statutes *245noted by the majority granting the district attorney express authority to appear in specified civil areas, others exist specifically restricting his authority. (See Gov. Code, § 26540 et seq.) Because specific statutes both authorize and restrict his duties, application of the statutory maxim reaches different results depending upon which set of statutes is used. Accordingly, the majority’s theory of statutory construction is inappropriate.

Punishment for violation of Code of Civil Procedure section 1209 is a maximum fine of $500 or a maximum of five days in jail or both. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1218.) Punishment for violation of Penal Code section 166, is a maximum of $500 or a maximum of six months in the county jail. (Pen. Code, § 19.)
Penal Code section 166 is not intended to take away from the court contemned the power to punish a violator of its orders, but is intended rather to provide an additional remedy. Both'the Code of Civil Procedure and the Penal Code remedies were intended to be cumulative because each remedy is for a different offense, though the two offenses arise from the same act. (In re Morris (1924) 194 Cal. 63,69 [227 P. 914].)

If, however, the majority’s statement means that the defendants are entitled to a jury trial when an alternative offense which could have been charged entails the right, then it is beyond the majority’s own limitation that: “We therefore need intimate no views as to the necessity of a jury trial ... in cases of . . . contempt ....’’ (Ante, p. 235, fn. 7.) Moreover, any suggestion that lesser penalties may not warrant lesser rights would be contrary to existing authority. (See, e.g., Duncan v. Louisiana (1968) 391 U.S. 145 [20 L.Ed.2d 491, 88 S.Ct. 1444]; Dyke v. Taylor Implement Co. (1968) 391 U.S. 216 [20 L.Ed.2d 538, 88 S.Ct. 1472].)