Anonymous Nos. 6 & 7 v. Baker

Mr.. Justice Harlan

delivered the. opinion of the Court.

Appellants have been convicted of contempt for refusal to answer pertinent quéstions put to them as witnesses summoned in' a state judicial Inquiry into alleged improper practices at the local bar. The sole issue before us is whether this conviction offended the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to -the Federal Constitution by reason'-of the fact that the justice'in charge of the Inquiry had required counsel retained by appellants to remain outside the hearing room while they were being interrogated, even though he expressed…