Contempt of court

If the authority are of the opinion that magistrate s court action will not give an adequate remedy a complaint may be made to the High Court. This court will issue an injunction prohibiting the repeat of the nuisance. Non-compliance with an injunction constitutes contempt of court and penalties include imprisonment. 

Even after the firm is permitted to resume operations, the company is perpetually enjoined by order of the court. This means that any violation of the order constitutes contempt of court. If FDA encounters such a breech, it can file a civil or criminal contempt action, which can result in additional monetary penalties or even jail time for some of the individual defendants. 

In response to these escalating compliance demands, several companies, especially in the blood bank and fractionated plasma product industry, have either gone out of business or signed consent decrees of permanent injunction that eifectively allow FDA to control and oversee the function and improvement of the company. Specific plans, time lines, and personnel issues must be filed with, accepted, and overseen by FDA and supervised by the federal courts. Violations of the negotiated (i. e., dictated by FDA) conditions constitute a contempt of court with increasingly serious penalties. With not only the company but also the chief executive officers being named as defendants in the case, appropriate attention is paid to the plan at all levels of the company. ... 

On December 1, 1982, Smith announced his decision the MPI-workshop-shaped recommendahon notwithstanding, the Corps would do no further hshery studies. On February 1, 1983, the Sierra Club and other plainhffs hied a contempt of court motion alleging misconduct by the Corps and NYSDOT for deciding to do no more studies when they had been ordered to consult experts and cognizant federal agencies, all of whom had recommended addihonal hsh studies. ... 

The fimction of a witness is to inform the judge or the jury of facts, not opinions, unless the witness is called as an expert witness. Most people can be compelled to be witnesses . Failure to comply witii a witness order is contempt of court. A witness will be questioned by coimsel who called him/her and may then be cross-examined by coimsel for the other side. Counsel who called the witness may re-examine but may not raise new issues. Leading questions (a question suggesting an answer) may not be asked. A witness cannot be compelled to answer a question which may incriminate him/her. A witness s evidence is usually given orally in open court, but in certain circumstances (e.g. illness) evidence is allowed by witness statement (affidavit, a sworn written statement). 

The district court acknowledged that some harm might come to the patients if they were deprived of marijuana, but that they were bound to follow federal law. It refused to modify the original injunction, and in addition, a contempt citation was issued, along with authorization to seize the cooperative s facilities. 

The Cooperative appealed both the contempt order and the denial of the Cooperative s motion to modify. Before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided the case, however, the Cooperative voluntarily purged its contempt by promising the District Court that it would comply with the initial preliminary injunction. Consequently the Court of Appeals determined that the appeal of the contempt order was moot. 190 F.3d 1109, 1112-1113 (1999). 

Section 11 also gives the EPA authority to issue subpoenas for testimony, documents, and things. These subpoenas can only be enforced by a district court, on penalty of contempt. The EPA has inherent authority to seek a judicial subpoena, in addition or as an alternative to 11 administrative... 

Inferior courts are limited in their powers to local jurisdiction, in the seriousness of the cases tried, in the sanctions they may order, and, in England, in the ability to punish for contempt. 

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