Having a contempt petition (sometimes called a rule to show cause) filed against one in a civil or criminal case is generally unsettling. What is the purpose? Generally, civil and criminal contempt is the legal process by which trial courts enforce their orders and/or maintain decorum in the courtroom. A key and relatively recent Indiana case, Stanke,1 has refined civil contempt and it, along with the array of contempt types and proceedings, is addressed in this blog post.
The first (and least common) type of contempt is direct contempt.2 This has multiple components. Most broadly, direct contempt is the stuff of ... Read More
Tag: direct
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Apr2017
27
May2015
Conflict and dispute is a part of daily life. Most of the time, conflicts are resolved through means outside of court. In a very small percent of daily or even life matters, there is no ability to resolve the matter outside of a lawsuit. In this case the wonder of the US legal system comes into play.
Litigants go to court and ask a judge to decide a matter. Cast in terms of emotion and winning or losing everything from children to property and freedom, it is easy to lose track of the fact the trial court judge is neutral in ... Read More