Court may order contempt fine payable to charity

When an attorney in New Mexico was found guilty of contempt of court by refusing to proceed to trial in defiance of orders and warnings, he was found guilty of contempt and sentenced to ten days in jail (with ten days suspended) and ordered to pay a $1000 fine to the New Mexico State Bar Foundation.

On appeal, the state Supreme Court has held that the order to pay a fine to a third party is permitted under the judiciary’s “inherent and uniquely broad” contempt power and the state Constitution.

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Court may order contempt fine payable to charity

Court may order contempt fine payable to charity