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The Summary Contempt Power And The Constitution: The View From Without And Within, Robert Allen Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

The "political trials" of the past decade generated a storm of legal controversy over the conduct of the defendants and their attorneys-and of the judges who presided at their trials. For some, the actions and attitudes of both lawyers and defendants courted disrespect for and presaged a breakdown in the law and its processes; for others, however, it was the response of the judges-chiefly, their heavy-handed wielding of the summary contempt power--that presented the real danger. Professor Sedler brings a unique expertise to his discussion of the use-and abuse--of summary contempt. While his approach reflects the concerns of the scholar, …