The Federal Reporter. Volume 6: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. March-May, 1881. Page: 68
xii, 927 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this legislative document.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
FEDERAL REPORTER.
ment." On the eleventh of May, 1880, the defendant sued
out a writ of error from the supreme court of the United
States to reverse the said judgment convicting him of a con-
tempt. The plaintiff moved in that court to dismiss said
writ of error, and the supreme court dismissed it for want of
jurisdiction on the twenty-ninth of November, 1880. The
plaintiff now, on presenting to this court the mandate of the
supreme court dismissing said writ, moves for an order that
the said order of March 13, 1880, be carried into effect; and
the defendant at the same time moves that the said order of
February 17, 1880, and the said order of March 13, 1880, be
declared inoperative and void, and of no effect, or that the
plaintiff be perpetually restrained and enjoined from any
further action or proceeding respecting the same.
It is provided by section 725 of the Revised Statutes that
the courts of the United States shall have power to punish,
"by fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of the court, con-
tempts of their authority: provided, that such power to pun-
ish contempts shall not be construed to extend to any cases
except the misbehavior of any person in their presence, or so
near thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice, the
misbehavior of any of the officers of said courts in their
official transactions, and the disobedience or resistance by
any such officer, or by any party, juror, witness, or other per-
son, to any lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or com-
mand of the said courts."
It is contended for the defendant that to render effectual a
judgment or order convicting a party of contempt, founded
on his disobedience to an order of the court, three things
must concur: (1) The order must be founded upon some
legal or equitable right vested in the party at whose instance
it is issued; (2) the order must be lawful and duly author-
ized at the time it issues; (3) the disobedience to it must be
wilful.
It is well settled that contempt of court is a specific crim-
inal offence, and that the imposition of a fine for a contempt
is a judgment in a criminal case. New Orleans v. Steam-
ship Co. 20 Wall. 387, 392. Although there has as yet been
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This document can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Legislative Document.
Boyle, Peyton. The Federal Reporter. Volume 6: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. March-May, 1881., legislative document, 1881; Saint Paul, Minnesota. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc36335/m1/80/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.