Monday, September 18, 2006
CONTEMPT RULING LANDS MAN IN JAIL FOR ELEVEN YEARS
ABC News reports* that a man who refused to provide information to his ex-wife has spent eleven years in prison for Civil Contempt. The man may be both a nut and in contempt. But, given that the purpose of incarcerating someone for Civil Contempt is not to punish, but to coerce compliance with the Court's Order, shouldn't there be a point where the Court recognizes that further incarceration serves no purpose other than to punish? In short, shouldn't there be limits on how long someone can be incarcerated for Civil Contempt?
*http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=2459194&page=1
ABC News reports* that a man who refused to provide information to his ex-wife has spent eleven years in prison for Civil Contempt. The man may be both a nut and in contempt. But, given that the purpose of incarcerating someone for Civil Contempt is not to punish, but to coerce compliance with the Court's Order, shouldn't there be a point where the Court recognizes that further incarceration serves no purpose other than to punish? In short, shouldn't there be limits on how long someone can be incarcerated for Civil Contempt?
*http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=2459194&page=1
Monday, September 11, 2006
FRUSTRATED WITH FAMILY COURT DELAYS
The following letter appeared in the September 12, 2006 edition of the Statehousereport.com.
Frustrated with judicial system
To the editor:
I do believe that the civil judicial process genuinely makes every effort to ensure a fair and just outcome under heavy case load and difficult circumstances. (See Commentary, 9/10.) However, my experience with the SC family court system will not allow me to fully share (yours) Chief Justice Jean Toal comments that they are the finest in America.
As a plaintiff in a simple childless divorce case that entered the SC family court system in 1999, I became disillusioned by the process.After seven costly emotionally-filled years, the matter remains needlessly unresolved to this day. Court orders were issued riddled with fundamental legal and judicial mistakes with little regard for fairness or cost containment. Frankly, I have never seen such degree of incompetence in any profession in my 55 years of life. It is and aloof adversarial contentious bureaucratic system designed around feeding the revenue opportunities of state attorneys.
-- Terry Housley, Sumter County, SC
The following letter appeared in the September 12, 2006 edition of the Statehousereport.com.
Frustrated with judicial system
To the editor:
I do believe that the civil judicial process genuinely makes every effort to ensure a fair and just outcome under heavy case load and difficult circumstances. (See Commentary, 9/10.) However, my experience with the SC family court system will not allow me to fully share (yours) Chief Justice Jean Toal comments that they are the finest in America.
As a plaintiff in a simple childless divorce case that entered the SC family court system in 1999, I became disillusioned by the process.After seven costly emotionally-filled years, the matter remains needlessly unresolved to this day. Court orders were issued riddled with fundamental legal and judicial mistakes with little regard for fairness or cost containment. Frankly, I have never seen such degree of incompetence in any profession in my 55 years of life. It is and aloof adversarial contentious bureaucratic system designed around feeding the revenue opportunities of state attorneys.
-- Terry Housley, Sumter County, SC
