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Dec 6th, 2017
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373
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Member CHB-OG
Joined: May 2005
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...federal judges can hold parties in civil or criminal contempt. Civil contempt isn’t about punishment, but about forcing a party to comply with an order or certain conditions. Courts can impose fines or even jail time, but once a party complies, civil contempt ends. Criminal contempt punishes someone for disobeying court orders, but it’s a nonstarter here because the president has complete pardon authority and could pardon anyone charged.
Civil contempt is another story. During Trump’s first term, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was held in contempt and fined after violating a court order to stop the collection of certain student loans. In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency was held in contempt when it failed to comply with an order about record preservation.
DOJ attorneys can be held in contempt, too. In 2009, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan found federal prosecutors in contempt after they ignored his order setting a deadline to produce documents. At the hearing, Sullivan yelled, “That was a court order. That wasn’t a request. I didn’t ask for them out of the kindness of your hearts. … Isn’t the Department of Justice taking court orders seriously these days?”
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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