Cammer v. United States
Headline: Court limits judges' power to punish lawyers summarily, holding attorneys are not court 'officers' for quick contempt trials, reversing a conviction and reducing immediate judge-only penalties for lawyers.
Holding: The Court held that a lawyer is not the kind of court 'officer' who can be summarily tried for contempt under the federal contempt statute, and reversed the conviction and fine.
- Prevents summary judge-only contempt punishments for lawyers under §401(2).
- Reverses conviction and $100 fine against the lawyer.
- Leaves criminal charges for jury influence to be pursued by indictment.
Summary
Background
A lawyer defended a man indicted for filing a false non-Communist affidavit and worried that many grand jurors were federal employees who might be biased. He mailed letters and questionnaires to the government-employee jurors asking about possible bias tied to the Government’s loyalty program. A district judge found the lawyer guilty of contempt under a federal statute and fined him $100; the Court of Appeals affirmed, and the case reached the high court.
Reasoning
The core question was whether a lawyer counts as one of the court’s
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