By: dmc-admin//May 24, 2010//
Civil Procedure
Summary contempt
Where a party's actions occurred outside the courtroom, it was improper for the district court to convene the parties and enter a finding of summary contempt.
"The record in this case is devoid of any suggestion that Trudeau's summary punishment was necessary to restore the court's ability to resume its duties. 'No trial was being disrupted by a failure to comply with a court order.' Troutt, 460 F.3d at 894. And, while we credit the judge's determination that the e-mails 'imped[ed] [the court's] means of communication and caus[ed] the necessity of a threat assessment,' he made no finding that immediate and summary punishment for Trudeau was necessary to solve his communication problems; in fact, Trudeau asked his followers to stop emailing the judge before he even got to court. See Wilson, 421 U.S. at 319 (noting that summary punishment is appropriate 'to prevent a breakdown of the proceedings'); see also United States v. Brown, 791 F.2d 577, 578 (7th Cir. 1986) (holding that summary punishment was appropriate for 'a serious interference with the process of justice' defined as 'obstreperous conduct' that brought the 'trial to a halt'). The judge found that Trudeau should not be able to take advantage of the judge's willingness to allow him a chance to appear in court before finding him in contempt in order to argue that summary contempt was impossible. Cf. United States v. Griffin, 84 F.3d 820, 829 (7th Cir. 1996) (noting that because a judge had the power to use summary contempt procedures, the same judge could adjudicate the case under notice-and-hearing procedures). But because the conduct occurred outside the judge's presence and, rather than being forced to stop proceedings by Trudeau's behavior, the judge had to actually convene proceedings in order to get Trudeau before the court, summary contempt should never have been an option here."
Vacated and Remanded.
10-1383 FTC v. Trudeau
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Gettleman, J., Tinder, J.