Law - Contempt of court Essay

Founders of the United States of America believed in providing the people of this great nation with a fair, and impartial judicial system. The basic rights of the people, which are listed in the Bill of Rights, needed to be respected and protected by the government. Abraham Lincoln once said “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth”. Every part of the United States government has a duty to protect the people that gave the government power, and one organization in particular plays a very large role in this charge. The Judicial System of the United States America is a complex organization constructed to uphold the authority of the Constitution, and federal law. The judges within the

1. violates or fails to obey any lawful general order or regulation shall be punished as a court-martial may see fit.

Civil disobedience is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "a refusal to obey governmental commands especially as a nonviolent means of protest."(Jacobus) We can see an example of this in U.S. history, when this theory was applied during the Civil Right Movement. The laws back then restricted African Americans from being able to attend public schools or use public restrooms that were designated as "white only." Even though they had paid taxes like everyone else, these types of segregation laws targeted minorities and made them second-rate citizens. Martin Luther King, who was sincere in exposing

When I had told my friends I couldn’t eat breakfast with them on Monday morning they gave me a puzzled look, as we always eat breakfast everyday together. After some confusion I had to tell them sorry I can’t, I have to go to court. I got even more confusion. They probably thought “Oh no what has she done or what happened?” but truth soon be told that I was going there just to watch some court cases. Upon telling them that it was just for an assignment, they all looked relieved that they hadn’t befriended a convict in their first 2 months of college.

Journalists must now be much more careful with their work, and must strictly follow the regulations put in place or suffer the consequences.

Supreme Court Case Sheppard V. Maxwell is the first case in American history to question whether the American right to a fair trial should be interrupted by the American right to freely publish one’s thoughts and opinions. Sheppard’s conviction, brought on by the biased eye of the press, was exonerated. However, concluded from the lack of policy alterations post-trial, the Sheppard V. Maxwell case still informally decided media is no real threat in the court system. Some may say otherwise. Although media may not directly affect court rulings, the press can certainly affect the public’s opinion, which in turn can affect a court case.

Obstruction of justice is the act of interfering with the procedures of the court or its officers. These acts include threatening witnesses, inappropriate talk with jurors, hiding evidence, or inferring with an arrest, which are all punishable crimes (LII Staff “Obstruction of Justice”). In modern times, obstruction of justice happens regularly. For example, in June of 2015, a man by the name of David Daoud Wright was charged on multiple accounts, one of which was obstruction of justice. Wright was charged with obstruction of justice for alleged deleting all information and data from his laptop and erasing the call log from his phone, and also for instructing his uncle to destroy his personal laptop (Redmond, Lisa “Everett Man Charged By Feds With Obstruction of Justice”).

From our class sessions, in order to hand down a ruling, a judge must first interpret the law before applying it to the case. Moreover, judges have other important responsibilities in the courtroom, such as admitting/denying evidence, instructing the jury, safeguarding the defendant 's rights and state 's interests in justice, upholding dignity, showing fairness, handing down sentences, discriminating/indiscriminating sentencing structures, even having to consider probation sanctions to impose on probationers. For instance, near the end of the proceeding, the judge instructed the jury about giving a verdict and the upcoming agenda for when they are to decide guilt or innocence. The judge played an active role in ensuring there is fairness on both sides of the prosecution and defense.

There are cases in which in some countries, the authorities may prevent media outlets from reporting

The law of contempt can often be criticized by the media and has previously been branded as unfair on the careers of many journalists. Article 10 gives anyone the right to freedom of expression, which includes the right to hold opinions, and to receive and impart information without state interference. This includes the right to communicate and to express oneself in any way, whether this be through words, pictures, images or actions - including through public protest and demonstrations. The right to freedom of expression could not be more crucial than in a democracy; information and ideas help to inform the public and are essential in doing so. Having said this, contempt of court laws in Scotland are in place to ensure that every person standing for trial has the right to a fair trial, and will receive this.

The courts of the United Kingdom are institutions there are aim justice to all and deliver fair and equal trails. Although ‘fair and equal’ are not always true to some cases along with ‘justice to all’. Never the less either convicting someone for unlawful activity or resolving a civil dispute, the British legal system employs a variety of courts in its application of the law. It much reminds me of my home country the United States the different level of courts I mean. Magistrates courts have the jurisdiction to try minor offences then for more serious offences are referred to the Crown courts. There are also appellate courts, which include the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court; formally known as the House of Lords. To

The due process and crime control models, both created by Stanford University law professor Herbert Packer, represents two opposing method of principles functioning within criminal justice system. Although the models describe the important facets of the politics and practice of criminal justice, both have been criticized since presented by Packer in 1964. Presently both models are acknowledged as imperfect standards to explain the politics and law of criminal justice. The crime control ideal represents traditional principles, whereas the due process belief reflects moderate values; therefore generating conflict evident throughout the years. This paper discusses models, crime control and due process, and how each affects the criminal

First of all, this is the definition of freedom of the press from lawbrain.com. Freedom of the press guarantees the rights, “to gather, publish, and distribute information and ideas without government restriction or restraint”. Also it is

Smith and Dean state that ‘publication contempt includes any publications that interfere with the conduct of particular legal proceedings and publications that undermine the judiciary through scurrilous abuse, or by allegations of bias and partiality’ (2011). ‘Scandalising the court’ is a contempt issue that addresses and describes publications that tend to undermine the judicial system (NZLC IP36). In this essay, both ‘publication contempt’ and ‘scandalising the court’

This is where the media tend to clash with people. Some journalist may argue and say that when publishing privet information it is in the public interest but they must prove that. This is in reference section4 which states, “The defendant reasonably believed that publishing the statement complained of was in the public interest." This is under the public interest defence, which was created under the defamation act 2013. The law was set up to allow journalists the right to free speech in reference to Article 10 stating “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression.”