Michigan Criminal Attorneys Blog
Contempt of Court is a willful act, omission, or statement that tends to impair the authority or impede the functioning of a Court. Any allegation of contempt of court will require an effective and experienced lawyer. There are 3 types of sanctions:
1) Criminal Contempt – Criminal Contempt is intended to preserve the Court’s authority by punishing past misconduct through imposition of a fixed sanction where there is no opportunity or need for the Court to compel the individual or entity’s compliance with its order. The intent of the person or entity must be willful. Criminal Contempt sanctions could include a jail term of up to 93 days per single Contempt act and/or fines up to $7500 per single act of contemt , that are intended to punish the behavior.
2) Civil Contempt – Sanctions for civil contempt are coercive and remedial in nature. They are intended to compel compliance with a Court’s directives by imposing a conditional sanction until the individual or entity complies or no longer has a duty to comply. The intent of the person or entity can be either wilfull or unwillful. Civil Contempt sanctions typically include a fine or a jail term that ends when the offending behavior ends, and money damages may be awarded to the injured party. In Civil Contempt proceedings, the person or entity in Contempt of Court must be given the opportunity to purge himself, herself, or itself of the contempt by complying with the conditions set by the Court to remedy the situation.