contempt of Congress
5
8.9
- noun
- /kənˈtɛmpt əv ˈkɒŋɡrɛs/
- Formal
:
desacato al Congreso
- In the matter of The United States v. Dalton Trumbo, we find the defendant guilty of contempt of Congress.
- held in contempt of Congress
- contempt of Congress charges
- cited for contempt of Congress
Examples
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Bohm was arrested and charged with contempt of Congress, went to trial, and was acquitted.
Academic text (1993) -
Ultimately, the Attorney General was properly held in contempt of Congress for his refusal to produce relevant, non-privileged documents.
Blog text (18) -
I mean, I did 14 months for contempt of Congress.
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That is contempt of Congress.
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The charge: contempt of Congress.
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In all likelihood, we'll be cited for contempt of Congress.
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Mr. Seeger, a jury has found you guilty of contempt of Congress.
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Mr. Trumbo, are you in contempt of Congress?
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Once immunity is granted, she has to testify or face contempt of Congress proceedings.
Blog text (31) -
If you refuse to answer questions during the hearing, you could be charged with contempt of Congress.
Synonyms
80
6.8
Deliberate refusal to obey a court's orders that can be punished by law
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'contempt' (refusal/disobedience or a punishable affront) + 'of Congress' (the legislative body), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes an offense of defying or disobeying Congress. The pattern 'contempt of X' is a regular, compositional legal construction and parallels in other languages/legal systems make the relation transparent to learners.
Etymology
Contempt of Congress comes from old legal rules: contempt meant showing disrespect or refusing to obey, and Congress is the group of lawmakers. If someone ignored orders or refused to answer questions for Congress, they could be punished, so today the phrase means 'to obstruct or defy' Congress.