YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS | The Ohio Supreme Court just said the magic words
Most of us are familiar with magic words.
I am not referring to George Carlin’s seven magic words that, in a bygone era, could not be uttered on TV. I mean the words and phrases magicians use when they make things disappear, pull a rabbit out of their hat or cut a lady in half — including “voila,” which for those of you who did not pay attention in French class, is pronounced “wallah” — “abracadabra,” “tada,” “sim sala bim,” “shazam,” “alakazam,” “hocus pocus,” and, for the Harry Potter fans out there, “expecto patronum.”
I will wager that most of you did not know that the legal profession has its own unique magic words that make amazing things happen: “Contempt of court.” The phrase may not be as catchy as “open sesame,” but, as the Ohio Supreme Court proved just a few days ago, it is every bit as effective.
Allow me to explain. On Thursday, Feb. 17, the members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission who are responsible for drawing new General Assembly and congressional maps for our state, told the Supreme Court it would be “impossible” to produce the constitutionally compliant districts the court’s majority had ordered them to draft and submit them for approval that day. On Friday, Feb. 18, Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor ordered the commission members to explain why they had failed to create a map and why they should not be held in contempt of court and tossed in the pokey.
On Wednesday, Feb. 23, the commission members told the court there was no reason to slap them in cuffs and leg irons and perp-walk them out of the statehouse because new maps would be on their desks within days.
“Voila” — the impossible had become possible. It was truly a magical moment.
Here is another example of the mystical power of this simple phrase: A parent refuses to meet their child support obligations for months or years because they claim they have no money. Their ex-spouse or partner files a motion with the domestic relations court to have them held in contempt for violating a child support order. A judge threatens to throw them in jail and — “shazam” — dollars rain down like manna from heaven and the amount owed is paid. Truly, it borders on the paranormal.
The incantation can also make people vanish. Under federal and state law, including Section 2705 of the Ohio Revised Code, a person who refuses “ … to do an act which the accused yet can perform, he may be imprisoned until he performs it.” That means a judge can keep someone in jail until they do as they are told.
The most notable instances of this type of contempt involve journalists jailed for refusing to identify confidential sources. Judith Miller of the New York Times spent 85 days behind bars for refusing to reveal who “outed” CIA agent Valerie Plame. Locally, Lisa Abraham of the Tribune Chronicle spent 22 days in the Trumbull County Jail in 1994 for defying an order to testify before a local grand jury.
“Shazam” — reporters disappear in a way that would make David Copperfield proud.
I know some of my loyal readers are wondering if I have ever had the spell cast on me. Aside from being held in contempt by the opponents I defeat in court, I have only been sanctioned once by the people in black robes who preside over them. It happened 25 years ago. A federal judge fined me $1,000 for being late.
“Sim sala bim” — that thousand bucks evaporated into thin air. But I have never been late to court again. Now that is magic.
— Attorney David Betras, a senior partner at Betras, Kopp & Markota LLC., directs the firm’s non-litigation activities and practices criminal defense law in both the state and federal courts. He has practiced law for 35 years. Have a legal question you’d like answered here? Send it to news@mahoningmatters.com.