Contempt of court

Contempt of court is the offense of being disobedient toward or disrespectful of a court and its officers, with the verb form contemn and a person found guilty called a contemnor. It divides broadly into disrespectful conduct in the courtroom and willful failure to obey a court's orders, and courts rely on it heavily to enforce equitable remedies such as injunctions. Civil contempt covers passive failures to comply with a court's wishes, while criminal contempt covers active disruption such as repeated outbursts, introducing barred evidence, or harassment in the courtroom. A judge finding contempt may impose fines, jail time or social service requirements, and because it functions as a process offense it gives judges in common law systems, in particular, their strongest tool for controlling disruption during trials and hearings. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/