civil contempt
1
8.6
- noun
- /ˈsɪvəl kənˈtɛmpt/
- Formal
:
desacato civil
- Mr. Clinton was held in civil contempt and fined for failing to comply with a court order.
- civil contempt cases
- civil contempt proceedings
- jail for civil contempt
Examples
-
Before Turner, sixteen state courts had held that the federal Constitution requires appointment of counsel in civil contempt cases.
Academic text (2017) -
South Carolina enforces child support orders through civil contempt proceedings.
Academic text (2017) -
The judges all agreed that lawyers added value to civil contempt proceedings.
Academic text (2017) -
Each year, states initiate thousands of civil contempt actions to enforce child support orders.
Academic text (2017) -
Twenty states and the District of Columbia do not provide a statewide right to counsel for civil contempt proceedings.
Academic text (2017) -
Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have no statewide right to counsel in civil contempt cases.
Academic text (2017) -
Indeed, South Carolina had no statutory or constitutional requirement that judges appoint counsel in civil contempt cases.
Academic text (2017) -
A unique feature of civil contempt is that the contemner is afforded a chance to purge the contempt.
Academic text (1992) -
Each year, states initiate thousands of civil contempt actions to enforce child support orders.
-
South Carolina enforces child support orders through civil contempt proceedings.
Synonyms
80
6.8
Deliberate refusal to obey a court's orders that can be punished by law
15
7.5
Showing disrespect to a judge or refusing to obey a court order that can be punished
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally transparent at the basic level: 'civil' (relating to non‑criminal law) modifies 'contempt' (disobedience of court orders), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a type of contempt occurring in civil/legal contexts. However, the specific legal nuance — that civil contempt is typically used to compel compliance (not primarily to punish) and how it differs from criminal contempt — is specialized and not predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
The legal term civil contempt combines contempt, meaning 'showing disrespect', and civil, meaning 'a non-criminal court case'. Imagine a court order as a rule the court gives to help another person; if someone refuses to follow it, the court sees that as disrespect and acts to make them obey. So civil contempt came to mean refusing to obey a court order in a non-criminal case, and the court uses fines or other steps to make the person obey rather than to punish them as a crime.