Contemptof Court

Contempt of Court. A contempt of a court of law is a disobedience to the rules, orders, or process of the court, or a disturbance or interruption of its proceedings. Contempts by resistance to the process of a court, such as the refusal of a sheriff to return a writ, are punishable by attachment, but contempts committed in the presence of the court which cause an obstruction to its proceedings in the administration of the law, may be and frequently are punished by the immediate committal of the offender to prison or by fining him. The power of enforcing their process and of vindicating their authority against open obstruction or defiance is incident to all duly-established courts of justice.