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
Comments:
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I empathize with the guy. But before commenting further my first question is how much of his total net worth did the $2.5 represent? And how much was his ex looking for settlement? There is an inconsistency in the story between the number and the paraphrased son's statement that "his father was also a conservative investor, slowly building a personal fortune of several million. Two is a couple, several has to be three - nine.
# posted by 
: 5:23 PM
: 5:23 PM
We do not think how much he owed or how much he had are relevant questions. There is no doubt that the Court found that the money belonged to his ex and that he refused to hand it over. Our concern is that the lejngth of time he has spent in jail exceeds the time that he probably would have spent in jail had he killed someone in a drunk driving collision with no end in sight. What's the point in continuing to incarcerate him? Remember, he has not been convicted of a crime, so punishment is not the purpose of his incarceration.
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