Contempt of Court

What is contempt of court

Well, contempt in itself is disdain or disrespect towards a particular person

And contempt for the court is disdain for the judicial process or the presiding court officer, that is, the judge

So, generally, contempt of court involves some act of disobedience, such as disruption of the court or interference with a court order or somehow otherwise insults the court's authority

To give an example, Title 18 of the United States Code sets a standard for criminal contempt of court

That is, in a criminal proceeding. It involves four elements. Misbehavior of a person, misbehavior in or near the court's presence

The misbehavior somehow obstructs the administration of justice and it's committed with a required degree of criminal intent

that is has some level of intentionality in either the action of content or the purpose

behind your actions. So with that being said it generally used to maintain order and decorum in the court or it used to enforce orders of the court required to administer justice or a judicial proceeding

Now contempt can be used in criminal proceedings as we saw in Title 18, or it can be used in

civil proceedings. And it can be used directly or indirectly. Directly is when an order is given within the court, such as maintaining some level

of order and discipline, any failure to adhere to the orders of the judge might be held in contempt

That would be direct. Indirect would be done outside of court. Say, for example, in a family law proceeding where you're ordered to make child support

and you don't do so. Failing to adhere to the court's order pursuant to that administrative plan of dissolution

of the marriage, you are disobeying the court's order. You can be called into the court to ask why you are disregarding the order of the court

So in this way the court order is used both to maintain order in the courtroom

and to ensure compliance with the court's orders outside of the courtroom

So in summary this is contempt of court and how it's used