PAST ARTICLES AND EDITORIAL BOARDS Contempt in New York: A Critical Survey
Lawrence N. Gray

According to the author, New York courts have generally acted irresponsibly in exercising both their judicial and penal contempt powers. Mr. Gray proposes that the courts have "imprecisely expressed the nature of contempt, inaccurately cited precedent [and] reluctantly imposed contempt sanctions," leading to inconsistent and inadequate enforcement and threatening the public's perception of an unbiased and even-handed judiciary. To illustrate his theory, the author critiques how the judiciary has dealt with the various components of contempt hearings of grand jury witnesses and how trial courts have dealt with immediate- view-and-presence contempt.

After a detailed analysis of all of the components of contempt hearings as interpreted by the New York Court of Appeals, the author concludes that New York's contempt law is "exceedingly difficult to comprehend, let alone apply." Therefore, revision of case law for the purposes of clarity and simplification is long overdue. Additionally, the author finds that, in cases of immediate- view-and-presence contempt, courts are unjustifiably restricted by current statute law. The New York's Legislature must codify past case law into a concise code for contempt proceedings to ensure consistent enforcement, and broaden the statutory powers of trial courts to guarantee meaningful punishment of courtroom misconduct. Mr. Gray offers the United States Code as a worthy model for this legislative reform.