Different shades of contempt come with varying sets of safeguards

Lawyers' Forum

By Robert S. Held

Robert S. Held, a partner at Harrison & Held LLP, represents corporate and individual fiduciaries engaged in will and trust contests, accounting actions and litigation in which the meaning of an estate plan document is at issue.

Posted November 20, 2014 3:09 PM

A speeding ticket defendant who used a curse word during a recess and outside a courtroom lost her liberty recently because the judge did not understand the difference between civil and criminal contempt. On Oct. 1, Valerie Perez was sentenced to eight days in jail — not because of something she did wrong. Perez was innocent. Perez committed no crime. She was jailed because she used an offensive word, and like many of us, the judge she faced did not understand how an allegation of contempt is prosecuted …

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