People v. Javaras

By order of the circuit court of Cook County, the defendant, Paul B. Javaras, was adjudged guilty of direct criminal contempt of court and sentenced to sixty days imprisonment in the Cook County jail. He argues that the summary nature of the contempt proceedings below deprived him of his State and Federal constitutional rights to due process of law.

The events leading to the contempt charge against the defendant occurred on November 21, 1969, on the twenty-first floor of the Chicago Civic Center. That floor houses various courtrooms of the circuit court of Cook County. On that morning, the…