Must Criminal Contempt Occur in Court? 7th Cir. Mulls Judge's Reaction to E-Mail Flood
As lawyers today debated before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals whether a federal district judge should have sentenced an informercial pitchman to 30 days for flooding his in-box with e-mail, the three-judge panel honed in on whether criminal contempt can occur outside the physical boundaries of a courtroom.
Partner Kimball Anderson of Winston & Strawn, representing Kevin Trudeau, argued that the finding by U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman requires in-court misconduct, before a judge, that directly affects the administration of justice, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
However, Gary Feinerman, a Sidley Austin partner appointed to argue that Gettelman’s contempt order should be upheld, said the deluge of angry e-mail that Trudeau encouraged fans to send to Gettleman’s e-mail and BlackBerry created a sufficient basis for the judge’s finding against Trudeau. In this day and age, he contended, a computer should be considered part of the courtroom, so “the court, at that point, was under attack.”
The appeals court stayed Trudeau’s 30-day contempt term pending its ruling, which could come at any time.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Infomercial Pitchman Gets 30 Days for Crashing Federal Judge’s Computer”
