Legal News

Judge Holds Lawyer in Contempt for Reading Maxim

By Peter Lattman

Thank heavens for the Salisbury Post, and the Law Blog reader who pointed us to it. A North Carolina judge held an attorney in contempt on Wednesday for reading Maxim magazine during a court session. Judge Kevin Eddinger (pictured) held lawyer Todd Paris in contempt after he saw him reading Maxim magazine with “a female topless model” on the cover, according to the court order. Paris declined to comment yesterday to the paper.

When Eddinger gave Paris a chance to respond he apologized and “stated in his view the magazine was not pornography, was available at local stores and that he did not intend contempt,” the order said. Eddinger fined Paris $300, gave him a 15 day suspended jail sentence that remains in effect for a year and placed him on unsupervised probation, according to the order.

Eddinger wrote in the order that “The contemnor’s (Paris) conduct interrupted the proceedings of the court and impaired the respect due its authority. In addition, the contemnor’s actions were grossly inappropriate, patently offensive, and violative of Rule 12 of the General Rules of Practice. Courtroom staff, law enforcement, members of the Bar and the general public shall be able to conduct courtroom business in an atmosphere free of the display of offensive material as demonstrated by the contemnor, thus necessitating this action.”

The story quotes a cop who was in the courtroom and said Paris came in after the lunch break and sat down on the front bench. He started looking at Maxim while Eddinger was hearing cases, the paper says. Eddinger saw him reading it and called Paris to come to the bench and bring the magazine. Paris reportedly offered to leave the courtroom and discard the Maxim, but Eddinger refused to let him leave and demanded the magazine. After some reported banter, the judge slapped him with a contempt citation, handing the magazine to the clerk and identified it as Exhibit A for the contempt case.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 25, 2008 (boomark / email).