Duty to Obey and Persons Bound Flashcards
What constitutes sufficient notice in order to be bound by a court order?
2 Requisites for Sufficient Notice: 1. It must proceed from a source entitled to credit; and 2. It must inform the party receiving the notice clearly and plainly from what act he must abstain (what he can or cannot do).
T/F: While an order remains in force it must be obeyed.
True. Collateral Bar Rule: After violating an order, it is too late to argue that the order is illegal, vague, uncertain, based on mistake, arbitrary, unfair, or unconstitutional. Once judicial process is in place you must follow the rules.
What is the Collateral Bar Rule?
After violating an order, it is too late to argue that the order is illegal, vague, uncertain, based on mistake, arbitrary, unfair, or unconstitutional. Once judicial process is in place you must follow the rules. Limitation: Petitioners could avoid collateral bar rule ONLY if the courts were acting in bad faith.
What are the 4 types of contempt and how do they differ?
1) Civil Contempt - includes sanctions to coerce the Δ into compliance and to compensate the π for losses sustatined. It is said that the “Δ has the keys to his jailhouse door” because he may pay the fine and be released. With civil contempt, is the underlying order is set aside on appeal, then the fines imposed may not be imposed and awarded to the π for his profit. It is remedial and for the benefit of the π. When a party is fined for civil contempt, the fines may be vacated if the party complies.
2) Criminal Contempt - includes sanctions to punish and is imposed for the purpose of vindicating the authority of the court. With criminal contempt, the sanctions are imposed even if the court order is ultimately set aside on appeal or even if the basic action has become moot. Since it is a crime in the ordinary sense, the constitution affords protection to the contemnor of Notice and the Right to a Jury Trial. When a party is fined for criminal contempt, the fines cannot be vacated.
3) Direct Contempt - occurs in the presence of the court (or near the court, like in a deposition) and threatens the court’s immediate ability to conduct its proceedings (ex: a witness refuses to testify, a party disrupts the court, an attorney is insubordinate toward a judge, etc.); it is subject to summary adjudication (so w/o notice or even a hearing); the purpose is “to maintain order in the courtroom and the integrity of the trial process in the face of an actual obstruction of justice.”
4) Indirect Contempt - occurs outside of the courtroom so considerations justifying expedited procedures don’t pertain here; requires the filing of a RTSC and hearing.
What can you do if you are served with a TRO?
You cannot appeal because it is not a final order; however, you can move to dissolve the TRO or request an expedited hearing on the matter before the 10 days is up. If you know about it and disobey it, then you may be ruled in for contempt by way of a Rule to Show Cause.
What is Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(d)?
The order binds the following who receive actual notice of it by personal service or otherwise:
(A) the parties;
(B) the parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and
(C) other persons who are in active concert or participation with anyone described in Rule 65(d)(2)(A) or (B).
Who must obey a court order?
FRCP 65(d)(2)
(A) the parties;
(B) the parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and
(C) any other persons who are in active concert or participation with anyone descrived in Rule 65(d)(2)(A) or (B).
So…
- parties
- and non parties with actual notice that are in active concert with the parties; they will be held in contempt only if the enjoined party is also in contempt.
What about the US v. Hall case?
- Under the common law, “a non-party who violates an injunction solely in pursuit of his own intersts cannot be held in contempt,” but
- In Equity, courts have the power to issue orders “tailored to the exigencies of the situation and directed to protecting the court’s judgment.”
- In other words, the court may issue an “interim ex parte ordr against an undefinable class of persons” and can therefore punish with criminal contempt for a willful violation of a court order by a nonparty who had notice of the order.
How does the court determine what kind of fine has been ordered in an action for contempt (civil or criminal)?
Sometimes determining whether a fine is for civil or criiminal contempt can be challenging; the court says that it must not be “based on labels,” but rather “on examination of the character of the relief itself.”
So the court looks at the nature of civil and criminal contempt sanctions generally.
What are some of the sanctions for contempt and how do they factor into the court’s determination of the nature of the contempt (civil or criminal)?
- Imprisonment - indefinite confinement until a contemnor complies with an order is civil; imprisonment for a fixed term, but the contemnor may be released early for compliance is civil; imprisonment for a fixed term for “completed act of disobedience” is criminal.
- Fines - a per diem fine imposed while a contemnor remains in contempt is civil; a fixed fine that is suspended pending future compliance is civil; a fine intended to compensate the complainant for losses sustained is civil; a “flat, unconditional fine” is criminal - even if it is for as little as $50, it is criminal if the contemnor has no subsequent opportunity to reduce or avoid it through compliance.
What are the procedural safeguards in place for “serious” criminal sanctions?
The right to a trial by jury applies only to serious crimes; you have to look at the penalty/sanctions imposed; for a jail term in excess of 6 months, then that is serious and the contemnor is entitled to a criminal jury trial.
