Modern Discussion of a Venerable Power: Civil Versus Criminal Contempt and Its Role in Child Support Enforcement: Hicks v. Feiock

Abstract

INTRODUCTION|In 1988 the United States Supreme Court in Hicks v. Feock, issued what might be considered a belated response to Judge Learned Hand's request for a "simple and certain" test to distinguish between civil and criminal contempt. Someone not familiar with the intricacies of legal contempt proceedings might consider the distinction between civil and criminal contempt a scholarly exercise of little practical value. In reality, the distinction between civil and criminal contempt determines what constitutional protections are afforded an individual charged with contempt, the rights of appeal, and the nature of the sentence. The importance of the individual rights determined by the distinction would imply that courts have developed a clear, useful test to insure that constitutional rights are protected in a contempt proceeding. To this date, however, courts have had great difficulty determining when a proceeding is for civil or criminal contempt. The Hicks case is the first modem attempt by the Supreme Court to enunciate a useful test that courts can apply uniformly...