In Re Conard

This is a case about contempt. About the contempt shown for the lawful, judicial authority of this State by one who swore an oath to uphold that authority. Although the principal opinion fails to see it, it is also a case about the law of contempt.

Contempt can be — as the majority suggests — “a complex area of the law.” But the contempt issues in this case involve the most basic concept in that body of law, the distinction between civil and criminal contempt:

Civil contempt is intended to benefit a party for whom an order, judgment, or decree was entered. Its purpose is to coerce compliance…