Bates's Case
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
An attachment was issued against Rudolph Bates for contempt of court, in advising and procuring one Ellen P. Cheney to absent herself from attendance upon said court at said term, she having been duly summoned to attend and testify upon the trial of an indictment pending against one Henry J. Colby.
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An attachment was issued against Rudolph Bates for contempt of court, in advising and procuring one Ellen P. Cheney to absent herself from attendance upon said court at said term, she having been duly summoned to attend and testify upon the trial of an indictment pending against one Henry J. Colby. The respondent submitted to interrogatories, and claimed that the question of whether or not he was guilty of contempt should be determined by considering his answers alone to such interrogatories. The solicitor claimed that the ex parte affidavit of Mary Angelí, filed in court, on which the motion…
1Concurrence
The authority to punish for contempt is necessarily implied in the establishment of a judicial tribunal. 1 Bishop Cr. Law, sec. 186.
The proceeding is in all cases summary before the judge, without the intervention of a jury. 2 Bishop Cr. Law, sec. 255; State v. Matthews,37 N.H. 456.
The procedure is various in different jurisdictions; and I apprehend that the discretion of the court is very broad, and will seldom be revised upon writ of error or appeal, so essential is it to the maintenance of the dignity of the court and the supremacy of the law that the offence should be punished summarily…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Androscoggin & Kennebec Railroad v. Androscoggin RailroadSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1862
- State v. MatthewsSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1859
- United States v. DodgeU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts · 1814