◆ SpookStack

L . . , . . . 6 . # c power to help a party which itself has done wrong and been unfair. Since courts mustvat least listen to arguments based on this doc- trine, we can describe all that we consider wrong with the univer- sity as argument against extending the TRO.) ... The common alternative to waiting for a court test is imme- diate mass disobedience. versity administration asks the court t; jail us for contempt. contempt trial is independent of hearings on the TRO and injunction. We openly viokate the 'TRO and the uni- The - This spring many of us feared that contempt meanriaarrest at any time, jail without a trial, indefinite sentence and no right to bail o r appeal. than regular criminal trials. But contempt procedures are, on balance, no w o r s e - Contempt starts with a subpoena to appear in court on a There is no a r r e s t , and therefore no need for bail, -* given date. unless the defendant refuses to show up in court. - Each defendant has the right to a trial, to determine whether A jury trial is required Immediate jailing for . he knew of and willfully disobeyed the TRO. before a court can impose a heavy sentence. contempt, without a trial, is aliowed only'for conduct in court. When a court orders us not to do something, disobedience is criminal contempt of court and the judge must s e t a fixed jail sen- tence, usually no more than 30 days. orders someone to do something and keeps him in jail until he does it.) Conviction can be appealed and bail is available until appeal is decided. (In civil contempt a court A contempt trial sometimes can be won on the issue of notice. The university must prove each defendant in fact read or hcard the entire court order. On some campuses, students have drowned out official.efforts to read injunctions, later testifying in court that they could not hear the injunction when it was read to them. -r -- -. .- a Contempt trials have only one serious disadvantagc comparcd to trials for trespass o r other crimes. for violatinfi an unconstitutional criminal law, people can be impris- oned for disobeying an invalid TRO o r injunction. Court recently upheld 5-4 an Alabama conviction of Martin Luther King and others for violating an obviously unconstitutional injanction against a civil rights march." Though no one can be jailed The U. S. Supreme :-e: - " .... . . . . . -- .*. . .- .."..-..e. -c ..,l ... -.--*. rrr3 ..... v....... -.- .:. .-.- ..-.. . --:_ . . -ii. ..... .. .4 .... -4.- ... .,..:- - . - .. 2 - ..... . .... ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... _. . . . . . . . . ... ...... .(___ 7.- v -;...,. ,.*. ........."....... a . ,-. . c _ - . . - - . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . - * .. . - .- A.m.& j. Cs. * ' . . _-. . 1 - . -_ .