Contempt and Cellphones

A couple of this blog’s recent Friday News Roundups have linked offbeat stories about contempt and cellphones. In the first a Michigan judge held himself in contempt and ordered a $25 fine when his cellphone rang in court. The second story was the federal Sixth Circuit upholding a 30-day contempt sentence for a courtroom spectator caught texting in federal district court. Actually it was more than that, as he later admitted to also using his phone to photograph his friend being sentenced. After all, what are friends for? Some readers might be wondering about contempt and cellphones in North Carolina courtrooms. In the Tar Heel state you might be held in contempt if your phone goes off, though not necessarily. Here is a brief primer on contempt and some observations about cellphones. There are two kinds of contempt, civil and criminal. Civil contempt is used only when a person is currently disobeying a court order, and its only sanction is to lock up the person until they comply with the order. The most common example is the deadbeat father not paying child support. He does not get a set sentence; he stays in jail until he pays, and he gets out just as soon as he catches up on the support. Criminal contempt can be for any of a number of behaviors listed in the statute. The most common are disrupting or showing disrespect for the court, not following the court schedule, refusing to testify. It’s shouting at the judge, cursing, [...]