Some of you may have seen the clip where someone who is in court is walking away after his case has been heard, and calls the Judge a “cock”. He mumbles this under his breath as he is walking away, however the Judge does hear him. The Judge asks him to repeat himself, which he does saying something to the effect of “I said cock”. The Judge then proceeds to give him a 30 day sentence. The guy then does it again, and so the Judge hits him with a 2nd 30 day sentence to be served consecutively.
My question is: Is it actually illegal to call a Judge a disparaging name? Obviously it isn’t intelligent, but why would it be illegal? It appears the Judge sentences him to “contempt of court”, which appears to me to be something a judge can do at almost anytime they want and for as long as the deem fit (this is gleaned from watching TV so…).
My other question is, if it is illegal in the US, is it illegal in Canada? If this had happened in Canada would the name caller have suffered the same fate?
Why would it be illegal? Because if people were allowed to yell at, insult or just plain ingnore a judge’s instructions court proceedings would grind to a halt. They are slow enough as it is.
You can’t generally be jailed for contempt of court as long as a judge deems fit, nor is the decision without review. A lawyer here made the news awhile back for basically having a fit in court and was sentenced to something like 90 days for contempt of court. I believe he was placed in custody right away, but pretty quickly he gets a hearing just like anyone else charged with a crime. The judge’s power is not without limitation and the charges are later going to be reviewed.
I think in the case of this guy, the same judge later reduced his sentenced to 30 days when the lawyer showed some contrition. But like with any criminal charge, it has to be proven and all that, and there are statutory limits on punishment.
Civil contempt is a little different, that’s basically not when you mouth off to a judge but when you refuse to comply with a court order. Basically imagine a scenario where judge orders someone to do something through a lawful court order. The person can (as in, has the capacity) to comply with the order, but simply refuses. Civil contempt doesn’t have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and you can be held until you comply with the order–people have been held for years for civil contempt. Criminal contempt is usually punished like a misdemeanor in terms of jail time.
Not listening to a judge’s instructions I can understand. If you are ordered up into the witness box, or ordered to leave the room, or something of the sort, then I can see it slowing down the process enough to be worthy of an additional charge, but calling a Judge a name? Its just a name, I don’t see the big deal
Or, from the link above:
Fails to maintain a respectful attitude, remain silent or refrain from showing approval or disapproval of the proceeding
Is worthy of an additional charge? If you have a stupid angry face on you get more time? Seems a bit draconian to me.
Ah, so this is perhaps what I “learned” from TV, civil contempt. One of things that I, and my social circle, have noticed is how little we actually know about our Canadian Court system, as everything we “know” comes from TV/Movies and that is all American.
The court, like parliament or the military, comes from a time when social order was more prominent, decorum was required (hint: Parliament - hat was back then) and important people in the system, and the system itself, would be shown deference. Hence the “your honour”, or at least “sir”.
So to maintain order, like parliament (yeah, right!) rules must be followed and people must at least pretend to be respectful.
Contempt is old-time-and-lawyer-speak for disrespect; it’s not so old a word that we don’t undrstand it. Actively show your contempt in the courtroom, expect your disrespect to earn the reward necessary to suggest you and others not do that next time.
The judge can find you in contempt, and as mentioned above, then you can go through the channels (or your lawyer can) to attempt to get someone to change that if it’s unreasonable. Good luck finding another judge who thinks swearing at a judge in open court is not grounds for discipline.
Judges are not stupid. Saying, for example, “I’m sorry” in a sarcastic tone with a grimace face will not convince him/her any more than it would your parents.
I’m not sure why you don’t get this. I don’t think you get contempt for having a stupid angry face, but if you disrespect the judge, you are definitely going to get in trouble. As well you should.
The judge is in charge of the courtroom. You and the other people in the court and even the lawyers are not his or her peers.
Its not a “don’t get this”, as it has been demonstrated that this the rule that has been established. Its more of a "I don’t get why its such a big deal that it would deserve additional jail time.
As to the “angry face” that is what the wiki link makes it seem to me:
-Fails to maintain a respectful attitude, remain silent or refrain from showing approval or disapproval of the proceeding
How else do you “show approval or disapproval” besides body language, which includes an angry face.
Nor have I said that Judges are stupid, and I stated that it was obviously a bad plan to insult a judge, I am just surprised, and still am, that mere words no matter how offensive to a particular person could earn someone 60 days in jail. Not actions, just words.
However that is strolling into GD territory, where I don’t want to go, so thank you for your factual answers.
You are assuming that making faces can get you into jail. This is highly unlikely.
As to why the judge should have the power to send you to jail for misbehaving in a courtroom. Court is serious business. The judge has to have the absolute power to maintain decorum in order to keep things running smoothly.
You can show approval or disapproval by calling out yay! Or nooo! That applies to everyone in the courtroom, not just the defendant. The judge - and everyone - wants a calm courtroom where people aren’t discouraged from making testimony or even drowned out.
Generally “making faces” isn’t going to get someone in trouble unless they are seriously giving the judge the stinkeye or rolling their eyes and throwing their hands up in the air, and generally a judge will admonish the person to knock it off or leave long before they slap them in leg irons. As SciFiSam said, “signs of approval” go far beyond body language, people are sometimes inclined to break into applause and cheers when happy with rulings or verdicts, and cries of anguish or rage when they aren’t. Even then there’s a line; you probably won’t be removed from the courtroom if you smile broadly when the criminal who victimized you gets a stiff sentence, or if you weep silently into your hands when your family member gets a life sentence, but you can’t jump up and scream “YES! Go to hell and rot there, you bastard!” or “NOOO! Don’t take my baby!”
“Contempt is old-time-and-lawyer-speak for disrespect”
I would disagree with this to the extent that it is neither old-time nor lawyer speak for disrespect or utter disdain. That is the plain and ordinary meaning of the word contempt which is why an ordinary person may be presumed to understand what constitutes contempt of court
All of the above, sort of, was shown in the clip going around the net recently with some bubble-head flipping the bird to the judge at a bail hearing (theres a thread about that here).
Two things: the bail had already been set and the order passed to a secretary. As she’s walking away (she was appearing via closed camera), she flipped the bird. Ie, the proceedings were already over–Item a) on Loach’s list.
And, in light of “[giving] the alleged cotemnor immediate right to respond.” Well, what if the asshole (excuse me, alleged asshole) denies it saying he just coughed ie, "[cough]-asshole[cough], as perfected by Belushi in the courtroom in Animal House.
ETA: I forgot: She had already been called back and had her bail doubled, for thanking the judge sarcastically, but the crowning insult was to say “Adios” to the Judge, who spoke with a heavy Spanish. (A beauty part not pointed out in that previous thread is that the Judge, after that action, waved to her and said “adios” with a heavy, mocking American accent.)