In re Chopak

This case has given me much concern. Emphatically and eloquently the Supreme Court has safeguarded the right, even the duty, of free general and public criticism of the courts against repression by fines for contempt. Pennekamp v. Florida, 328 U. S. 331, 66 S.Ct. 1028; Bridges v. State of California, 314 U.S. 252, 62 S.Ct. 190, 86 L.Ed. 192, 159 A.L.R. 1346. This case really presents the same issue, albeit without the same publicity (since the criticism was made privately to the judge himself), but with greater severity of punishment (since appellant lost his professional standing for three…